


Angel and the Devil

by AnnieFox22



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Daredevil (TV) Spoilers, Healing, Hurt Matt Murdock, Original Character(s), Post-Episode: s01e08 The Defenders, The Defenders (Marvel TV) Spoilers, Torture, Vigilantism, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-13 19:53:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 29,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieFox22/pseuds/AnnieFox22
Summary: Takes place after the events of the Defenders series:Matt Murdock wakes up in pain. He doesn't remember much, besides having a building fell down on him. How long has he been in the monestary? Why is one of the nuns so interested in him? And who is the mystery girl who has been taking care of him?Matt has a lot of questions, and meanwhile his friends are looking for answers too.During his recovery, Matt and his friends will come across more secrets and special individuals. And not all will turn out to be friendly...





	1. Back from Hell

**Author's Note:**

> After watching the Defenders I started speculating about what could have happened to Daredevil. This is my very first fanfic, and I will possibly totally ignore some details from Defenders and Daredevil (sorry in advance). I am just here to write a story. I hope you guys will enjoy it!

He wasn't sure if he had woken up or if he was still stuck in some kind of nightmare. 

He opened his eyes, but all he saw was darkness. Complete darknes, no traces of his world on fire. He felt panic rise inside his chest and he tried to take a deep breath. It was only then when he felt the pain. His entire body ached, he couldn't focus on his surroundings. He couldn't distinguish the muffled sounds and the wispers he heard. The pain was too much, and for the first time in years, Matt Murdock wished he had some heavy painkillers. 

After a couple of minutes, which could also have been hours or years, Matt got used to the pain. It didn't get any less, but it also didn't get any worse. He carefully breathed in and out, the way Stick had thought him. The mind controls the body. And eventhough his body was bruised and broken he was still alive. He could fight this.  
He was too tired to think about why he was still alive and who else had made it out of the tunnel. He would figure that out later, for now he just had to keep breathing. 

"Oh Matty..."a soft voice broke through the noise arround him. It was more like a wisper, but enough to grab his attention. The woman quietly sat down next to his bed and carefully wiped his forhead. 

"Sister Maggie, how is he?" Another person entered the room, Matt tried to focus but couldn't say if he was in a hospital or not. It was a logical assumption when one would assess his injuries, but his room didn't smell or sounded like the typical hospital room. It smelled old, a bit dusty, and the wooden floor protested when the second person walked towards his bed. 

"Sister Mary Constance said he was awake, but I'm not sure..."

"Oh, he is awake. Is it alright if I give him his treatment now? I have other business to attend to later today, so if it is no problem I would like to do it now." Matt decided that the second person was also a woman, but probably younger than Sister Maggie. 

The older woman on his side nodded and moved her chair a couple inches away from him so the younger one could take her place. "I'm glad you've regained conciousness," the mystery girl said while taking his hand. The movement hurt and Matt tried not to flinch.

"Please, do me a favor and concentrate on the areas that hurt the most." Everything hurt, Matt thought grimly when she softly laid her cold hand on his shoulder.

The girl sighed. "Think of something more specific. A freaking building collapsed on you, so I imagine you must be feeling all your cuts and bruises right now, but please focus on your most painful injuries," she nudged him. 

Unsure about her motives, Matt did as he was told. It was like standing in a crowded room with all the radios and televisions blasting on maximum vollume, people talking all around him, and a lot of white noise. Slowely, Matt started to distinguish the individual sounds. He could feel the pain in his body, his broken bones, the bruises, the swelling underneath his skin. He started at his toes and slowely formed a map of his broken body in his head. 

His right leg was broken, but it wasn't too bad. His hip felt badly bruised, as did his entire right side. His ribs were fractured, causing him trouble breathing and every breath felt as if he was inhaling fire. A severe cut on his left side was leaking some blood and God, it really stung. 

His head hurt a little, but he had known worse headaches. Yet he had to admit he had never been this severely injured before. The overall pain in his body was still too intense to move even his fingers. All his muscles ached from where they were hit by the debris.

It felt as if he was ran over by a truck, he told himself with a glum sense of humor. He corrected himself; not a truck, he knew how that felt and that was differeng. This was more like a building had collapsed on top of him. 

The mystery girl chuckled. "You're a tough one, you'll be just fine in a couple of weeks. Now let me see if I can help reduce the pain a bit..." she took a deep breath, placed one hand on his chest and another on his forehead. It felt like ice was being drained from his veins. The sensation was odd, but not unpleasant. Slowely, the pain became numb, and Matt drifted off to a peacefull sleep.

Sister Maggie had been watching carefully while the young girl performed the miracle. Maggie could see Matt visibly relax during the treatment and she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd hold in. 

"Thank you, dear," Maggie smiled while the miracle worker let go of the blind man. A pair of dark green eyes looked back at her in pain, making Maggie feel uncomfortable and sad. 

"I am merely paying my debt," she said defeated. "Text me when his condition changes, I will be back later tonight." 

And with those words, she left the room, leaving Maggie to care for the Devil of Hells Kitchen.


	2. The good Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt has regained conciousness and find himself being cared for by a friendly Sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for this short chapter guys, I will try to upload a new chapter every few days or so. Any suggestions and recommendations are welcome since I have too many ideas for different plotlines anyway. 
> 
> Cheers!

The air was heavy with rain. Matt could always tell when the weather was about the change. He could taste the differences in the air, telling him about the change in temperature that was about to come. It also told him about the change of the seasons. 

Right now, the atmosphere was fresh and waiting for the first spring storm. He could already hear Foggy complaining about his hayfever, and he smiled at the thought.  
  
'Good to see you're up and smiling,' a soft voice said warmly.  
Matt was a little startled by her, he had thought he was alone in the room. He tried to focus on the woman's presence, but as soon as he tested his senses he realized he had been drugged.  
  
'My name is Sister Margaret. But you can call me Maggie.'  
  
Matt heard the scraping of a chair over a wooden floor, indicating she was sitting down next to him.  
  
'You were in quite a bad shape when we found you on our doorstep. I am glad to see you're doing better,' she wiped his head with a wet cloth and Matt welcomed the soothing sensation.  
  
'Are you able to talk?' She asked kindly. 'It would make the conversation a lot easier.'  
  
'Y-yes,' Matt replied with a raspy voice. His throat felt dry, like sandpaper, and his lips were cracked and raw.  
  
'That's better. How are you feeling?'  
  
Horrible, Matt thought, but he kept it to himself. 'Thirsty,' he managed to say. He reached out with his left hand and felt the nightstand. It was empty.  
  
'I can imagine. I will ask Sister Mary Constance if she can bring something for you to drink. We have tried to keep you hydrated through the infusion.' Sister Maggie carefully put his hand back on the bed.  
  
'How...how long was I out?' said Matt hoarsely.  
  
'The Midland Circle building collapsed on March 10th, it is now the 24th..'  
  
Fourteen days. Did anyone know he was here, alive? He repeated the question out loud.  
  
He could hear Maggie take a deep breath before answering. 'We did not know who to trust with your... identity. The Devil of Hells Kitchen showed up broken at our doorstep, only a few of the nuns here know about you. We tried to keep your stay a secret...'  
  
Matthew sighed. 'I supposed I should be grateful for that. Thank you, Sister.'  
  
'You're very welcome,' she smiled. She wiped his forehead again and Matt let out an exhausted breath. He felt a little guilty for enjoying the pampering. He even welcomed the absent of pain, provided by the drugs, eventhough it did make him feel drowsy and tired.  
  
'It's okay, Matty,' Sister Maggie said softly. 'You need your rest. Sleep now ...my son, then I'll fetch you something to drink.'  
  
And while he drifted off to the pleasant place of unconciousness, something bothered him. She had called him Matty. Not Daredevil. Not Matthew or Matt Murdock. And he wondered if he'd met the good Sister before...  
  



	3. Meeting the Angel of Hells Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt learns about the mystery girl who has been taking care of him.

A calm heartbeat and the sound of pages turning woke him. Matt noticed he could sense his surroundings again, but that also meant he felt the pain that was still making him aware of the damage done to his body. He grunted at the sensation. 

‘I was already wondering when the pain meds would lose their effect,’ the mystery girl said, sounding unimpressed. 

Feeling more aware than he had been since the Midland Circle incident, and realizing he could deal with the pain, Matt tried to push himself up. 

His ribs protested, and he could feel and hear the creaking in his busted leg. His skin streched around the stitches when he moved and he felt the dull ache of where he had bruises, which was practically everywhere on his body. But besides that? He felt awake. Alert. He had survived something he hadn’t believed he could have.

‘Who are you?’ He asked. His lips were still burst, but his throat felt a lot better. He vaguely remembered Sister Maggie bringing him something to drink when he was still dosed up with drugs. 

‘They call me Angel.’ The mystery girl answered without her heart missing a beat. Another page turned while she continued reading what was probably a book. 

Matt frowned. Was she messing with him? She looked up from her book, noticing the confused look on his face and she grinned. 

‘I know, gotta love the irony, right? With you being the Devil and such, ending up in a monestary, getting saved by a bunch of Nuns... and now me.’

‘The devil is just a mask, I am not really a devil,’ Matt explained. 

‘And I am not really an angel, but you could have fooled me. You sure as hell look like one, with those horns and the red leather kink thing going on.’

Matt was a little annoyed by the sarcasm. It made it more difficult to track a lie, and this angel kept her heartbeat calm and stable.

‘Well, you call yourself an angel, I don’t think you have much to say in this,’ he retributed. 

She chuckled. ‘I didn’t call myself anything. When the Nuns found me, they kept calling me an angel. And the name just stuck.’  
Matt could tell she shrugged her shoulders and that long hair brushed over it down her back. 

‘So, what is your real name?’

‘Angel is actually my real name. Angel Mary Eldris, and it says so on my passport. And I know yours is Matthew Michael Murdock. But people still call you the Devil, which I guess isn’t mentioned on any official document as I’ve been instructed to keep your identity a secret.’

Matt grimaced. ‘Yeah, I don’t like people knowing that I am Daredevil. Vigilantism is still illegal in New York.’

‘And I figure that doesn’t help your business as a lawyer,’ Angel said dryly. 

‘You have been researching me,’ Matt remarked. 

Angel put her book away and sighed. ‘Yeah, well, I am a bit picky when it comes to my patients. I don’t give everyone the miracle treatment.’

‘The miracle treatment?’

‘The ladies here call me a miracle worker. I am pretty good with hopeless cases,’ she said without modesty. 

‘And I am a hopeless case?’ Matthew didn’t know whether to be annoyed or amused by her. 

Angel smiled sweetly. ‘My friend, I only get called in when cases are hopeless or worse. Yours was apocalyptic.’

Matt would have laughed and put it off as a joke, hadn’t she been completely serious. 

‘So, you are some kind of doctor?’ He asked. She sounded awfully young to be on call for the hopeless and apocalyptic cases. 

‘I think of myself more as some kind of independent nurse for special cases.’ Her cryptic answer only raised him more questions. 

‘How did you end up here?’ He asked. 

‘I walked here. Went through the front door, came down the hallway, then sat down in this chair.’ Matt was surprised by her answer. She obviously didn’t appreciate his questioning. 

‘I am sorry, I did not mean to offend you, I was just curious. You sound quite young,’ he offered as an explanation. 

‘I don’t like discussing my origin story. Even thoug it’s not very interesting, and I hardly remember coming here, it is still not something I like to talk about. So try to avoid any of those questions during your cross examination, OK?’

Matt appreciated her honesty and the free card on asking her questions, but the limitations she gave him only made him more curious about her background. 

‘Fair enough. I appreciate having someone to talk to,’ he smiled. 

‘As do I. The sisters here only talk about God and his plans for me. You being here gives me a welcome distraction from all that bible talk.’ 

Matt laughed, and hurt his ribs by doing so. ‘I do have to warn you, I am a devout Catholic.’ He told her.

‘Who runs around dressed like the Devil. I am sorry, counselor, but I think you are on the losing side of this argument.’ 

Matt wanted to laugh again. He didn’t know Angel, but he appreciated her brutal honesty and sense of humor. She reminded him of a certain Private Investigator. Unfortunately, his body was hurting too bad for being capable of laughing out loud. 

Angel grinned. ‘Are you in pain?’ 

‘I’m fine,’ the words were out before he realized it. Damn, Foggy was right. This truly was his motto. 

‘Awesome, means I don’t have to work my miracle on you.’ Satisfied she settled herself more comfortably into the chair.

‘Speaking of which, what exactly is it that you do?’ Matt asked curiously. 

‘I can’t really explain it into detail,’ Angel started. ‘Mostly because I am still trying to understand it myself… but basically I am sensitive to other people’s feelings. Their emotional state, but also their physical feelings. Especially their feeling of pain. It is pretty useful when you have an unconcious or mute patient, or a little kid who can’t express themself. So, whenever there is a case and people can’t determine what is going on with the patient, or are unsure on how to treat the patient, they call me.’ 

Matt gave it some time to process. It was not the weirdest thing he had heard. Hell, he’d witnessed someone coming back from the dead, someone using a magic glowing fist, and he knew two incredibly strong people of whom one was bullet proof. 

Meeting a girl who was able to determine how badly someone was hurt by sensing their feelings actually fell into the less weird category of his life.

‘So, you just know what people feel? Are you enhanced?’ 

‘Maybe. The definitions of being enhanced are not that clear. I don’t have super strenght. I don’t turn into a green monster or wave around a magical hammer, so I don’t have to sign on the register of enhanced individuals. But yeah, I do pick up on other people’s feelings a bit more than most. A lot more than most,’ she admitted.

‘How much is a lot?’ Matt asked, having some experience on picking up on other people’s feeling himself.

‘I can feel you are injured badly. The worst pain coming from your ribs whenever you take a breath. I can also tell you are curious, confused and annoyed about being here. You are worried, but I’m guessing you are not worried about yourself.’ Angel paused before she continued. 

‘And I can pick up on your hightened senses. I know loud sounds and strong smells bother you… And I also pick up some sad feelings, a loss, but it is not mourning, I think. A breakup, perhaps? No, the feeling is burried deep… its something darker…’ 

‘Elektra.’ 

Matt had whispered her name without meaning to. He couldn’t believe Angel was capable of sensing so much. Was she some kind of mind reader? That didn’t matter now. What did matter was Elektra Natchios, and the question whether she was still alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is finally taking off. Thank you for your support and as usual, suggestions are welcomed. I am still deciding whether to introduce Foggy or the other heroes from Defenders in the next chapter or to keep Matt in the monestary a little longer.


	4. A bad day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foggy Nelson reflects on his bad day, bad week, bad year, and horrible life ever since he found out Matt's secret.

Foggy Nelson had been having a bad day.  
Scratch that, he had been having a bad week. Scratch that too. 

Ever since he had found out the secret of his best friend and former business partner, Foggy’s life had taken a turn for the worse. 

He had tried to cope with Matt’s need to beat up bad guys in dark alleys. He had tried to support him and take care of him when needed. He had worried constantly that some day the devil inside Matt would get his bestfriend killed. 

He had tried to accept that this was part of who Matt was. But accepting was not the same as understanding.

After they’d broke up as business partners, Foggy had hoped he would worry less about all the bad guys, mobsters and ancient evil magical ninja organisations (yeah, appearently those were a thing now) who would try to kill the Devil of Hells Kitchen. But no such luck.  
His decreasing contact with the blind lawyer who had been his best friend since law school, only made him worry more. Any time his phone rang, the thought flashed through his head. This is it. Matt Murdock is dead. 

He had nightmares about people finding out that Matt was Daredevil, and that he would be questioned about his bestfriend’s night job. 

‘Mister Nelson, were you aware that your former business partner was Daredevil?’ 

Foggy had rehearsed his answer in his head a million times in a million different ways. ‘No your honor, I was not.’ 

‘So all the injuries he acquired during his vigilantism never struck you as odd?’

Foggy would shrug his shoulders. He had perfected his hurt and confused look. ‘No, ofcourse not. He was blind. He always said he had tripped or bumped into a door or something like that. And I believed him.’ 

His nightmares had different variations, but the worst ones were always when he had to defend is dead friend. The ones in which Daredevil would be unmasked, and the public would see the lifeless body of Matt Murdock. 

And now his nightmare had come true in possibly a worse way he could have imagined. He had given Matt the Daredevil suit. He might as well had signed Matt’s death certificate there and then, but how could he have known Matt was so fucked up that he would die with his crazy zombie ex-girlfriend, just to buy the other Defenders a few more minutes? 

The Defenders. Karen had come up with the name for the group of four superpowered individuals, consisting of a bulletproof ex-con, a very-strong-alcoholic-and-always-pissed-off PI, a rich kid who knew kongfu, and Daredevil. 

The Defenders of New York. And they were not a team. Jessica Jones had put a lot of emphasis on that, and Matt probably would have said the same thing. Those vigilante types all had issues with working together. With accepting help… 

‘Mister Nelson?’ His cute but too young for him assistant peeked through the open door. Foggy sighed, silently asking the universe when his workday would end. 

‘What is it, Shelly?’

‘Miss Page called. Again. I told her you were busy, and you would call her back, but she was quite determined to speak to you…’ Shelly nervously looked at him with her big brown eyes. This was probably her first real job.

‘No need to worry, Shelly. I will call Karen back,’ Foggy smiled reassuringly. 

‘Yeah, uhm… but she is already here…’ Shelly stepped aside to let the blond reporter in. 

‘Foggy, we need to talk.’ Stern blue eyes locked into his and pierced him in his seat. Karen meant business.  
And Foggy had the feeling the conversation wouldn’t be a pleasant one.

***

‘Careful!’ Sister Maggie anxiously watched while Matt took his first careful steps. 

It had been five days since he first woke up. Five days of laying in bed, of doing nothing. All his muscles protested as he proceeded to take another step.

The other sisters hardly spoke to him, only to help change his bandages or feed him. The only two people Matt spoke to were Maggie and Angel. 

‘He’s doing fine,’ Angel said assuringly. ‘Aren’t you, Matt?’ 

Matt groaned when he put some weight on his injured leg. He had asked them to get him off the painkillers and any other medications since it demped his senses, so now he felt every bruised and broken bone in his body. 

‘I’m fine,’ he managed to say with his teeth clenched together. 

‘Told ya. Alright let’s see if you can make it to the bathroom all by yourself,’ Angel encouraged him. She was sitting on the small desk on the side of his room, feet dangling above the floor. 

Sister Maggie was standing right behind him, ready to catch him if he’d fall. She was rather protective of him and would keep him company during the day when Angel was off, doing whatever she was doing. 

Determined not to quit, Matt shuffled towards the bathroom, heavily leaning on his crutch. His body was tensed up from the exertion, but he pushed through. Mind controls the damaged body. Murdocks never quit.

‘Well done,’ Angel complimented him when he finally sat down on the edge of the bathtub. 

‘Are you hurt?’ Maggie asked while she examined his bandages. This time, Matt was able to give her a crooked smile. ‘I’m fine,’ he told her. And this time, he was almost telling the truth. 

‘Great,’ Angel said happily. ‘I see my services are no longer needed then. I am heading out.’ 

She grabbed her coat which she had trown into a corner earlier and started to make way to the door.   
‘Angel,’ Matt stopped her. ‘Hmm?’

‘Could you please do something for me?’

When she didn’t answer but instead waited for him to continue, Matt took a deep breath and heaved himself up on his crutch. 

‘Could you please let my friends know that I am here? You can go to Foggy Nelson. He works for Hogarth, Chow and Benowitz. He’ll know what to do.’


	5. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Matthew Murdock is alive.'

Foggy had spent three days convincing Karen that whatever she found out could not be real. 

Karen had run into his office with a shady picture, taken after the Midland Circle incident. She had been absolutely sure that the vague figure in the shadows had been Elektra. Foggy had argued it could have been anyone or anything. Maybe just even a shadow from all the debris which was simply shaped in an odd form. 

Karen wouldn’t believe him. If Elektra had made it out, maybe Matt had too. If she admitted to herself no one could have survived the colapse of the building, she would also be admitting that there was zero possibility of Matt coming back. 

Normally, she was the most realistic person between the two of them. Foggy understood her point of view. He understood her stubborness of not wanting to believe that their best friend was dead. Hell, he didn’t want to believe it himself. But somehow he had always known that Matt’s life would end like this. Saving the city, while dying like the martyr he was. 

It was only after Jesicca Jones and Luke Cage had searched through the debris and confirmed that Matt would not come back, that Karen had accepted the truth. 

After the two Defenders had left Foggy’s appartment where Karen had laid out all possible leads to Matt and Elektra, she had broken down. 

She had clampsed her hands before her mouth whike trying to suck in shakey breaths. Foggy had pulled her close and held her while her quiet sobs slowely grew hysterical. In the end, both of them were crying on the floor, holding on to each other and sharing the grief. 

After that breakdown moment they awkwardly had said goodbye, and promised each other to stay in touch. To meet up at Josies regularly. Both of them knew they wouldn’t do that. Karen would drown herself in her job as a reporter and Foggy would continue like he had before, hoping to pretend that none of this had happened. 

A week had passed, and besides a single text, he hadn’t heard of Karen since then.

Foggy was just contemplating if he should call her, to check up on her, when his assistant Shelly knocked on the open door. 

‘Mister Nelson? I have a Miss Eldris for you here. She claims you two have an appointment now, but I didn’t see anything in your schedule besides your five o’clock with Miss Stahl,’ Shelly explained as apology. 

Foggy frowned. He was sure he hadn’t any appointments. He had cleared his afternoon schedule to go over some cases at home while preparing for his “meeting” with Marci. He had promised himself to get drunk tonight, to try to forget about his miserable life for a while.   
Foggy was also pretty sure he didn’t know any Miss Eldris. 

‘I’m sorry, Shelly, I weren’t aware of any meeting with Miss Eldris. Could you please ask her what it is about and reschedule to next week?’ 

Shelly nodded and her dark curls bounced alongside her head. ‘Ofcourse, Mister Nelson.’ She dissapeared back into her own office to deal with the unexpected client. 

Foggy sighed. He had long ago stopped trying to get Shelly call him by his nickname. She was way too professional for that. Ah well, if the girl wanted to keep calling him by his last name, she could. Foggy just thought it was a pity since he didn’t want to look like the old formal boss. 

He put on his coat and grabbed his suitcase. He would start his weekend early today. 

He smiled at Shelly who was in a heated discussion on the phone while he walked towards the elevator and pressed the button to the lobby. 

It had started raining and Foggy already shivered at the tought of finding a taxi in the rain. He hated this cold spring weather. 

‘Foggy!’ 

He turned around when he heard his name. Like Shelly, hardly anybody at HC&B called him that. 

A young girl, probably even younger than Shelly, walked up to him with short fast steps. She had dark blonde hair and dark green eyes, which looked too big and too serious for her small face. She was plain but pretty once you really noticed her. If she hadn’t walked up to him he probably would have overlooked her. She succeeded in playing the gray little mouse no one would bother to look at twice. 

‘Foggy Nelson.’ It wasn’t a question, she knew who he was. 

‘Yes?’ 

She stood still in front of him. ‘I’m Angel Eldris. And I need to speak to you.’

Ah, so this was Miss Eldris. ‘Pleasure to meet you,’ Foggy smiled as he put out his hand to greet her. She ignored it and pushed him towards the door. 

‘Yeah, not really. Come on, we need to talk somewhere private.’ 

It wasn’t untill they were getting soaked in the rain when Foggy realized that a teenager had taken control of the situation and was now possibly in the middle of abducting him. 

‘Err, where are we going?’ Foggy asked when she hauled over a taxi. ‘Some place dry and private,’ was the response.

Right. Foggy was still too confused to do anything about the situation, untill the taxi pulled up in front of his old law firm. 

‘He pays,’ Angel said while she climbed out of the car and stood in the rain, watching Foggy to pay the taxidriver.

Hurriedly, Foggy managed to fish some cash out of his pockets which he pushed into the taxidriver’s hand.

‘What are we doing here?’ Foggy asked while the taxi took off. ‘I no longer work here. The law firm of Nelson and Murdock was disincorporated about a year ago…’ 

‘I know. I also know that the office has been empty ever since. Get inside.’ She opened the door for him and Foggy stepped inside the dry hallway. 

This place was full of memories. Memories of Matt and Karen and him. The best damn Avocados this city had ever seen. 

‘What are we doing here?’ He asked while she led him to his old office. 

‘I already told you twice. We needed a dry and private place to talk.’ 

The office was dusty and dark. Outside the rain ticked against the windows. What had once been a happy little office was now a sad reminder of the good old days when Foggy had been completely oblivious to Matt’s nighttime activities. 

‘I get that, but why here? Please tell me you are not some kind of teenage serial killer who kills her victims in abandoned office spaces.’ 

Angel raised an unimpressed eyebrow. ‘Even though that sounds pretty cool, I am not a serial killer. Also, I am twenty-one, so fuck off.’ 

She looked agitated and Foggy wasn’t entirely sure wether she was a serial killer or not. He decided to play along and let her explain her full reason for taking him here. He made himself comfortable on one of their old sqeaky chairs, or at least to the extend of how much that was possible.

‘I know this used to be your law firm. Yours, and that of Matt Murdock. I thought you’d appreciate the irony of this place for our conversation,’ Angel started. 

Foggy’s heart clenched at hearing his bestfriend’s name. ‘Our conversation. Right… and what would we be talking about?’

‘Daredevil. Or Matt. Doesn’t really matter since they are the same person, though.’ Angel shrugged and Foggy felt like he was reliving his nightmare all over again. Someone had figured out Matt was Daredevil. He was so screwed. 

‘What? No, that’s ridiculous,’ Foggy laughed it off as a joke while frantically searching for a good excuse. 

Angel sighed. ‘Please don’t lie to me. I might not have Matt’s super hearing but I can still tell when people are lying. Lets agree to stay honest, alright?’

Foggy could only nodd while looking dumstruck. 

‘I wanted to talk to you here in private because I have a message for you from Matt.’ 

‘What, like his last will?’ Foggy asked. He had already read the will. Hell, he even helped Matt setting it up when they were in their final year of law school. He was still strugeling wether he should report Matt’s absence as a final one, and sign the will and death certificate. 

‘No. Nothing like that.’ Angel answered. She looked into his eyes and made sure he was sitting steady on the chair before dropping the bomb. 

‘Matthew Murdock is alive.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa I know what you guys are thinking: another chapter on this same day? Yeah, thats right! I felt a bit bad for leaving you with these short chapters all the time, eventho I have plenty of inspiration. 
> 
> Anyway, I am writing this story only on my phone which makes it a bit difficult to create long chapters. I hope you can forgive me and will enjoy the story. 
> 
> \- Yours sincerely


	6. The Angel of truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen wasn't ready to let Matt go. But after extensive research she has to conclude Matt Murdock is dead. That is, untill Foggy calls her.

Karen had been absolutely sure Matt was alive. There was just no way that he was gone. They had just started getting back together. 

She had tried to find evidence that Matt was still alive. To prove that her guts feeling had been right. 

Foggy didn’t believe her when she’d first come to him with evidence that Daredevil had been patroling Hells Kitchen. But Foggy had made a few calls and quickly shown her that the vigilante who was currently protecting Hells Kitchen wasn’t Matt, but a kid who named himself The Iron Fist. Danny Rand told them that he felt guilty for Matt’s death, and that he had promised him to protect his city. 

Karen didn’t want to believe, but the evidence was there. Matt Murdock was dead. 

That was, however, untill she discovered a vague figure on a camera still. A security camera from across the street had captured the fall of Midland Circle. Karen had been analyzing the footage to convince herself Matt was truly gone. 

When she went over the video from the night after, she saw a blury shadow coming out of the rubble. It was too dark to make anything out of it, but a flash of a dark coat and long hair made Karen believe this was Elektra.

She didn’t know much about Elektra, only the things Matt had reluctantly told her when he had come clean about being Daredevil. She had died a year ago, and was now somehow back from the dead. That was, ofcourse, untill a building had collapsed on her and Matt and an entire ninja cult.

However, if she had come back from the dead once, why not twice? And why couldn’t Matt be alive as well?  
Karen had called Foggy and his assistant told him he was busy. Bullshit, he just didn’t want to believe anymore.

She had packed her bag and gotten a taxi straight to HC&B. She’d walzed her way into Foggy’s office, showing him the camera still of Elektra and looked him directly into his blue eyes. 

‘We need to talk.’

And they talked. For hours, so to seem, untill Foggy finally made a call to his ex-client Luke Cage and his girlfriend Claire. 

Luke was a bit wary about Karen’s ‘proof’, so he had called in Jessica Jones. The PI had shown up, taken one look at the picture and declared it all bullshit. 

As a final plea Karen had begged them to go to the ruins of Midland Circle, to search for clues. 

After the unfruitful inspection, Jessica had cursed at her and yelled that Matt had been an idiot for sacrificing himself. But she was done. Done with all of this shit. 

Karen had watched her walk away and Luke followed pretty soon after. He wanted to make sure Jessica was okay. He apologized to her and Foggy, and told them it was a tough loss. Matt had been his friend too, but he didn’t believe in false hope and blurry pictures. 

Foggy had taken Karen home and they’d cried together. Their best friend wasn’t coming back. 

A few weeks later, Karen had drowned herself in her work. Frank Castle also needed the occasional support, so she had plenty distractions to not think about Matt and what could have been.

Every now and then Foggy would call to check on her, but they never met again, until Foggy’s last phone call.

‘Karen, can you come to Josies?’ Foggy sounded shaken. 

‘Josies? What, right now?’

‘Yes, I’m here already.’ 

Karen frowned. ‘Foggy, are you drunk?’

‘No, but I wish I was. And you’ll too, after you hear what I have to say.’ He hung up on her and Karen checked her watch. It was a bit early to call it a day, but Ellison had been pleased with her work so far and she could always say she was doing some field research for an article. 

She tidied her desk and turned the lights off with a deep sigh before she headed down to Hell’s Kitchen. Hopefully, this was just one of Foggy’s dramatic episodes where he needed her help for a case. Maybe had figured out her secret of working together with the Punisher. Maybe…

*** 

‘Okay, Karen, this is Angel, Angel, this is Karen,’ Foggy nervously introduced the two. 

Karen frowned when she shook the hand of the young girl. Karen wondered if she was even old enough to legally drink beer, but then again Josie wouldn't care as long as the drinks were paid for.

‘Why are we meeting here?’ she asked.

‘Angel kinda abducted me out of HC&B and took me to the office. Our office. Nelson and Murdock, so we could talk more in private,’ Foggy explained. Angel snickered at his use of words and Karen blinked a few times. 

‘Right, of course that’s how it goes.’

'Yeah and after that I needed a drink and Angel told me to call you so here we are, tadaa,' Foggy chucked down his beer and signaled Josie for a new one.

Angel coughed and looked at Karen. ‘The true reason I reached out to you is because I have a message from Matthew Murdock.’ 

Karen felt her heartbeat rising and her throat tightened.  
‘What kind of message?’ she demanded. 

Angel shrugged. ‘The “hey I’m not dead and would appreciate it to be picked up by my friends” kind of message. The nurses think he is still too weak, but Matt and I discussed that it is time for him to…-’

‘MATT IS ALIVE?!’ Karen screamed. She looked at Foggy who was trying to down his second glass in one go. ‘Is she for real?’

‘I am very much for real. I’d show you a picture but I only have an old nokia which doesn’t have a camera. I can, however, show you where he is,’ Angel offered. 

‘How can we trust you?’ Karen suspiciously asked. Everyone around her had tried so hard to convince her that Matt was dead. It was ironical that now she had finally accepted that he would not come back, this mystery girl would tell them he turned out to be alive and well after all.

‘Fair question,’ Angel admitted. ‘Especially after Foggy here claims I’ve abducted him. I guess I don’t really have much more proof besides telling you that Matt aka Daredevil is currently recovering in a monestary, and I am willing to show you where it is.’ 

Foggy nodded in a haze, but Karen still didn’t trust the petite blond girl with the dark green eyes. She was too… mysterious. Karen got the creeps around her, and after the whole Fisk case and Frank Castle business she had learned to be more careful. Or paranoid, depending on your point of view. 

On the other hand… her guts told her Matt was still alive. Angel grinned at her. 'I know you don't trust me, but I am merely a messenger. Matt asked me to inform you guys that he is still alive and kicking, and in return Foggy buys me my drinks.' 

Foggy looked a bit alarmed at that, but Angel pretended not to notice. 

'I suggest you get a drink as well. You look like you need it,' Angel nudged Karen. 

And a couple of drinks later, or a lot of drinks later, Karen found herself squished between Angel and Foggy on the backseat of a yellow taxi, driving them off to God knows where.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm sorry it took a bit longer to upload a chapter (also sorry that it is such a short one), but I'm in the middle of testweek/eventweek/projectweek, so busy busy busy.
> 
> I promise you guys a longer chapter next week. If you have any interesting suggetions feel free to leave something in the comments.
> 
> Furthermore I'd like to thank everyone who left a comment and/or kuddo. This is my very first time writing any fic, and to see your positive reactions to it is really awesome :)
> 
> Cheers!


	7. What comes next

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel takes Karen and Foggy to the monestary to see Matt.

‘Angel, how wonderful you brought friends over,’ a happy and a little bit overweight nun said when Angel, Karen and Foggy walked through the gates of the monestary. 

‘They’re Matt’s friends. I will leave them with you, if that’s alright sister Constance?’ 

Foggy and Karen shared a glance. They had thought Angel would either bring them straight to Matt, or a group of murderous criminals. Karen still found it a plausible option. What they hadn’t expected was to be brought to a tiny monestary on the edge of the city where they would be welcomed by nuns. 

‘Of course, dear. Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?’ 

Angel shook her head. ‘Nah, I don’t think so. I have some things to do.’ She then directed herself to Karen and Foggy. 

‘These nuns have taken care of Matt these past few weeks. You can trust them completely and if you have any questions ask Sister Mary Constance or Sister Maggie.’ 

‘I’m confused,’ Foggy declared, trying not to look too tipsy. ‘I thought you would be the one to show us to Matt.’

Angel nodded. ‘Yeah, but something has come up. Alright, go inside, Matt is waiting for you. Pleasure meeting you, and Fog, thanks for the drinks.’ 

Karen’s mind was too much of a blur to ask where Angel was going or if they would see her again. Angel tipped two fingers to the side of her head and waved it off as a goodbye. Then she was gone. 

‘Welcome, dears,’ Sister Mary Constance said with a smile as she guided them to the front door. 

‘I understood from young mister Murdock that he had sent out for you, though I have to admit I didn’t expect you here so soon.’

‘What is this place?’ Foggy asked in wonder. 

‘Saint Michaels Monestary,’ the sister replied. ‘This used to be a busy and religious center, but nowadays I and the few sisters who are left just take care of the building and offer help to those in need. Mostly homeless and desperate people.’ 

‘And you have Matt here?’ Karen asked. 

‘Oh yes, he is the only patient we have at the moment. He was in quite a bad shape when he arrived at our doorstep.’ 

‘A building collapsed on him,’ Foggy explained. 

Sister Mary Constance nodded. ‘Yes, so I’ve heard. He definitely looked like it.’

‘Why bring him here?’ Karen asked. ‘Why not take him to a hospital if he was in such a bad shape?’

The sister gave her a sceptical look. ‘I am sure you are aware of his… other identity. We were afraid of what would happen if we brought him to a hospital. We didn’t know who to trust. Daredevil has done a lot for this city, and protecting his identity and nursing him back to health seems the least we could do to repay him,’ she explained.

They walked through the long hallway of the monestary, their footsteps echoed from the walls. 

‘Luckily, some of us have some medical knowledge. And of course Angel has been a great help,’ Mary Constance continued. 

Karen frowned. ‘How does Angel fit in here anyway? She isn’t a nun, is she?’ 

‘As far as I know she doesn’t believe in God at all,’ the sister confirmed dryly. ‘She showed up about a year ago. We helped her back on her feet and gave her a home. She stuck around since then, and we are very grateful for that. She has am extrordinary gift.’ 

‘A gift?’ Karen asked. 

Sister Mary Constence frowned. ‘Well, I don’t know what to call it otherwise. She can sense if someone is in pain and in some cases she can take away the stress and pain in order for the patient to heal faster. It has been incredibly useful for Matthew’s treatment.’

‘So… he is alright?’ Foggy asked hopeful. 

‘He is healing,’ the sister corrected him. They stopped in front of a wooden door at the end of the hallway. 

‘This is his room,’ she announced. 

For some reason, Karen felt very nervous. Sister Mary Constance softly knocked on the door before opening it. Foggy, possibly even more nervous than her, grabbed Karens hand.

They stepped into the spartan room. A middle aged woman, dressed in the same kind of tunic as Sister Mary Constance but without the traditional headgear to hide her hair, was sitting on a chair next to a simple bed.   
And in the bed was a dark haired man, bruised and bandaged, and he grinned at them without his eyes meeting theirs. 

‘Hi guys.’ 

***

‘Ooff, broken ribs!’ Matt warned as he was crushed by their friends’ hugs.

‘Broken everything,’ Foggy said, part angry, part crying, part laughing. 

‘Pretty much,’ Matt admitted. 

‘HOW. How the hell are you still alive?!’ Karen wanted to know. Matt shrugged and regretted the movement after the hug-attack. 

‘I have no idea. What I heard from the sisters here... it was pretty bad.’

‘It was indeed a tense time,’ the other sister agreed. ‘But God heard our prayers and you pulled through, like I knew you would.’ She smiled at Karen and Foggy. ‘I am sister Margaret, but you may call me Maggie,’ she introduced herself. 

‘Foggy Nelson,’ Foggy said as he shook her hand. ‘And thank you so much. You too, sister Mary Constance.’ 

Foggy was overwhelmed by relief and emotion. He was still trying to wrap is mind around the fact that his best friend was, miraculously, alive. The sisters only smiled, modest as ever.

‘We thought we’d lost you, buddy,’ he said while squishing Matt’s hand. 

‘Yeah, sorry about that.’

‘You are a complete asshole,’ Karen scoffed. ‘How could you ever think that sacrificing yourself was ever okay?’

‘I..I didn’t think,’ Matt said appologizingly. ‘It was just a… in the heat of the moment thing. The others were going up the elevator, and I had to… I had to try and give them some time. And… The Hand was there. They had a dragon, or at least the bones of one. I had to make sure they didn’t get it.’ Matt was rambling. He didn’t have a good excuse. 

He had totally intended to die that moment. With Elektra. Stick was dead, his law practice a joke, he didn’t have the same relation with his friends the way he used to, and he just got Elektra back from the dead. He was more Daredevil than Matt Murdock and he had made Elektra a promise once.

They’d fought, as enemies and as lovers. Trained by the same man, who was killed by the Black Sky, by Elektra. But in that moment none of that mattered. It didn’t matter that he was Daredevil. It didn’t matter that she was the Black Sky. It didn’t matter she used to be under control of the Hand and Matt was helping The Iron Fist. 

What mattered was that she was Elektra and he was Matt. A murderer and a non-killing vigilante, who had once shared the dream of running away together.   
If they couldn’t run away in life, maybe they had better luck in death.

However, Matt should have somehow known that things never went the way he wanted them to go.

‘Dragons? You’re shitting me. Being involved in an ancient ninja death cult is where I draw the line. No way dragons are real. You must have a concusion. Does he have a concusion?’ Foggy directed the latter towards sister Maggie. 

‘He might have had one, but he was in coma for about a week. And has been lucid ever since,’ she answered.   
‘A fucking coma,’ Karen repeated dryly. ‘Fuck, Matt, what the hell did you get yourself into?’ 

Matt tried his best to look innocent and gave her a crooked smile. ‘I admit it get a little… out of hand.’

‘Understatement,’ Foggy cut in. ‘You look like one of those disembodied Betty Spaghetti dolls. Ya know, with those flexable arms you can bend in unnatural curves…’

‘I don’t know about any Betty Spaghetti,’ Matt said. 

Karen rolled her eyes. ‘Redgardless, Foggy is right. You look like shit.’ 

‘Feel like it too,’ Matt admitted. ‘But fortunately I am doing much better. I’m now capable of dragging myself around on cruches,’ he said proudly. 

He didn’t need to use his super senses to know that both Foggy and Karen were looking at him unimpressed. 

‘Anyway, what have you guys been doing besides drinking while I was in here?’ he tried to change the topic.

‘Drinking and working was pretty much it,’ Foggy confirmed with a sigh. 

‘We had a ceremony,’ Karen said. Matt turned his head in her direction. ‘We… no one else knew, and we… we asked Father Lantom to host a ceremony in your memory. We thought you were dead, so…’ 

‘I understand,’ Matt interupted her kindly. They sat down in silence for a while. 

‘Did you… did you report me deceased?’ Matt asked.

Foggy shook his head. ‘I was about to report you just as… missing. There is still too much chaos around the whole Midland Circle thing going on. The cops are still asking about the details but Jones and Luke Cage didn’t give them any and I think they gave up on interviewing Danny Rand.’ 

‘So, Jones and Cage didn’t get in trouble for supposedly abducting me?’ Matt asked. 

‘No, I defended their case. The DA has nothing on them. No one knew where you went that night and everyone kept their mouth shut. The DA might believe you left the city, maybe they think you are dead, but anyway there is no relation between you and Daredevil. Danny Rand took care of that.’ 

‘Did he now,’ Matt smiled. 

‘Yeah, he kinda took over the position left by Daredevil. Every now and then we get a Daredevil sighting. But we know it’s not really Daredevil.’ Foggy explained. 

‘I asked him to protect the city,’ Matt confessed. ‘I’m glad to hear he honored my request.’ 

‘Your dying wish, you mean,’ Karen said bitter. Matt sighed. ‘At that time, yes.’ 

‘Yeah, please never do that again,’ Foggy said. 

‘I promise to never try to get underneath a collapsing building again,’ Matt vowed. 

‘It’s not funny, Matt!’ Karen tried to sound angry but she couldn’t hide her smile. 

‘I am really sorry,’ Matt said again. 

‘As you should. We worry enough about you without you actually dying and dissapearing for weeks,’ Foggy said sternly. 

They sat together for a while. The three friends, enjoying each other's company for the first time in a long time. 

‘So…’ Karen said. ‘What’s next?’


	8. Need for a drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt slowly gets back into his life, Karen is suspicious of Angel, and the Defenders share a drink.

‘I had forgotten about the stairs,’ Foggy huffed as he supported Matt to his apartment. 

‘I hadn’t,’ Matt said with clenched teeth. ‘But I had forgotten about my broken knee.’ 

They were both breathing heavily when they finally made it to the couch. Angel had walked behind them with a steaming cup of coffee. ‘You’re weak,’ she commented as she settled against the side of the wall. 

‘Leave us. He has a busted knee, and I have never been in an athletic shape my entire life,’ Foggy defended them. 

Matt smiled and lifted his injured leg on the coffee table. ‘Someone cleaned,’ he noticed. 

Foggy looked around. The apartment was the same as usual, but with a lot more dust gathered on all the surfaces. 

‘Errrm, budy, I think your super senses are a bit off. This place is dirty.’ 

Matt laughed. ‘Yeah, it could use some dusting. But I actually meant that there are no traces from the earthquake. A lot of stuff had fallen over,’ he explained. 

‘Ah… yes I remember. It was hell looking for your devil suit through all that shit.’ 

Matt frowned. ‘Wait, so you didn’t clean this?’ 

‘Should I have?’ Foggy asked guiltily. 

‘Well, at least you could help him clean now.’ Angel suggested as she inspected the apartment. ‘Nice place,’ she said. 

‘Thanks, wasn’t sure if after all this time I could still call it mine, though.’ Matt sighed. 

‘Right, because you supposedly died and everything.’ Angel sipped her coffee and leaned back into the wall. She obviously didn’t mind the awkward silence that followed. 

‘Alright… aaaaaanyway, are you willing to help me dust this place?’ Foggy sounded hopeful. 

‘Pffff, hell no. I’m vertically challenged. I won’t be able to reach any of those ridges and high surfaces,’ Angel gave as excuse. 

‘Vertically challenged.’ Foggy repeated. 

Angel nodded. ‘Oh yes, it’s a very serious problem for us people below 1.57. That’s 5’2” in American measurements, by the way.’ 

Foggy groaned. ‘Who even uses the metric system?’ 

‘Everyone but Americans,’ she answered dryly. Then she frowned as she corrected herself. ‘And I suppose Brittish people too.’ 

Matt chuckled. ‘Yeah, I suppose. But I don’t think you just came here to drink coffee and watch Foggy clean my apartment?’ 

Foggy made an indignant sound at that and Angel smiled sweetly. ‘Actually, that’s exactly what I was gonna do.’ 

‘You are a horrible person,’ Foggy told her as he got off the couch. Both Angel and Matt snickered at that while he started looking for a duster. 

‘Don’t worry, help will arrive soon,’ Matt soothed him. And true to his word, Karen walked through the door a few seconds later. 

‘Hi guys!’ she said happily. Her smile faltered however when she saw Angel. 

‘Hello, Angel,’ she greeted the girl coolly. Karen still didn’t like Angel, and the two of them had been keeping their distances. 

‘Hello, Karen. Nice to see you again. I was just about to leave, so…’ Angel didn’t even bother to finish the sentence. 

Karen nodded and placed the two bags of groceries she had brought on the kitchen table. 

Angel detached herself from the wall and saluted everyone with her cup of coffee. ‘Bye Matt, By Foggy. Take care of yourself. If the pain gets worse, you can take an aspirin. And Foggy, good luck with cleaning.’ 

‘Fuck you too, Angel!’ Foggy shouted after her while he could still hear her laughing. Unlike Karen, he had grown quite fond of Angel. Despite her sass and tough-girl attitude, she really seemed to care about Matt. And Foggy always liked people who had Matt’s best interest at heart. 

‘Why are you always so mean to her?’ he asked Karen as soon as Angel was out of earshot. 

‘I’m not mean!’ Karen protested. 

‘You’re not particularly friendly with her either. Don’t you get she is just trying to help?’ Foggy pleaded. 

Karen gave him a dirty look. 'I do get that, but I simply don't get her motivations. What do we even know about her? She is giving me the creeps, like she just knows what you are thinking. I am afraid she has a double agenda...' 

'You are just paranoid,' Foggy argued. Before he and Karen would get into a verbal fight, Matt intervened. 

'Hey, it's okay if Karen doesn't like Angel. But I trust her, and she never lied to me.' 

Foggy smiled smugly and Karen rolled her eyes. 'That still doesn't make her a saint.' 

Matt sighed. 'Karen, I am not asking you to become best friends with Angel, I know she is a bit... odd. But I do think she is a good person. Otherwise, why would she be living in a monastery helping the sick and injured?' 

'I don't know, guilt maybe? I just want you to understand that we don’t know shit about her, and she apparently seems to know everything there is about us. She knows you are Daredevil,' Karen argued. 

'Karen, I get you are worried and just want to protect me, but Angel means no harm. Please, let it go,' Matt pleaded. Karen kept her mouth shut but made herself a promise that she was not letting it go. Being around Angel made her feel highly uncomfortable. And usually, her gut feeling was right. 

 

***

'No. Fucking. Way.' 

It was two weeks since Matt had come home. He had given a vague and useless statement to the police department, claiming that after he had tried to stop Jessica Jones and Luke Cage from escaping the police station, he had gotten lost in the chaos of the Midland Circle incident. He had told one of the cops – he couldn't remember who – that he was going home, and he would like to be updated. Matt acted angry at the police officer who had claimed him to be lost in action. 'I simply went home!' 

Matt had argued that the truth, in fact, was that when he had walked back to his apartment in the rain in the borrowed T-shirt of the NYPD, he had gotten a cold. He had felt miserable, but he wasn't the type to go see a doctor for such a thing. Unfortunately for him, the cold became a pneumonia, and when he had gone to a friend on the outside of town to recover, he had also broken his leg. Just his luck. 

The NYPD offered their apologies for the whole misunderstanding. Brett Mahoney didn't believe a word of Matt's bullshit, and neither did Misty Knight, but they couldn't prove Matt was lying. Everyone was back, alive and well. The criminal organization was buried deep under the ruins of Midland Circle, and it would be easier for all of them to just move on with their lives again. 

'No fucking way,' Jessica repeated. 'How the fuck are you not dead?' 

Matt had asked Karen to ask Trish to ask Jessica and the rest of the Defenders to meet him in a small bar in Hell's Kitchen. Not Josies', he didn't want to destroy the place by letting Jessica Jones drink there. 

The blind lawyer smiled smugly at the PI. 'I'm sorry to disappoint you, miss Jones.' 

'Did they like... resurrect you?' Danny asked warily, still trying to believe that the man in front of him wasn't a hallucination. 

'If they did, they did a crappy job. I'm still hurting all over,' Matt entrusted him, pointing at the crutch and his leg. It was almost healed, but Angel and Claire had encouraged him not to put too much weight on it. 

'It's good to see you again, man,' Luke smiled and he placed his hand on Matt's shoulder. 'But I do believe you owe us a drink. Or maybe two.' 

'You are paying for all my drinks, indefinitely,' Jessica grunted as she signaled the bartender to pour four drinks. 

'What happened to you?' Danny asked curiously. 'I mean... we searched for you, but the hole in the ground was completely filled up by the building. We believed you were dead.' 

'Yeah... I am not even sure what happened exactly. I just know that I came to in a monastery and the people there nursed me back to health. Karen and Foggy didn't find out about me until two weeks ago.' 

'Ah, right. And still you felt the need to leave us with another two weeks of guilt and agony about your death? You're an asshole, Murdock,' Jessica told him. 

'I'm sorry. I was a bit occupied with getting my life back,' Matt apologized. 

'Whatever.' 

'So... you really don't know anything about the building collapsing?' Danny asked. Matt shook his head. 'I remember you going up the elevator while I was fighting off Elektra. That's about it.' 

'Damn. She isn't still alive too, is she?' Luke wondered. 

'I don’t know,' Matt said in earnest. 'I don't know how I got out of the hole either. I don't know how I ended up in the monastery. The people there couldn't tell me much. They said that one morning they found me on their doorstep, and the sisters took care of me.' 

'If you made it out of that shithole, maybe other people did too. Fuck. I just thought I was done with all this Hand bullshit,' Jessica groaned. 

'If the Hand is still active, we would have known,' Danny reassured her. 'Colleen and I have been keeping tabs on the remaining Hand facilities. But they are lost without their leaders.' 

Jessica didn’t seem to be impressed. 'They have come back from the dead before. There is no guarantee they won't come back again. And to be fair, I have had my fill of fighting evil ninjas.' 

'Hear, hear,' Luke agreed. 'But it is like Danny says. We have demobilized their organization. Without their leaders they can't do much. We will be keeping tabs on them, and if they act up again, we will deal with it. For now, let's just celebrate that we are all still alive.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! I have finally a good plotline all written out. So, you can expect more Angely-mystery, and I will also adress what's going on with Fisk since the last time we saw him in season 2. There is more to come, but I think I will mostly be focusing on the Daredevil show and less on the Defenders. 
> 
> For now, I am amazed by the kuddos and reactions I keep getting. You guys are wonderful! 
> 
> \- Cheers :)


	9. Back to normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen tells Matt that she thinks Elektra might be alive and they get into an argument. Karen also gets to meet Angel one on one.

It was almost shocking how easy Matt got back into his normal life. His leg had healed, and apart from the occasional waves of pain through the rest of his still bruised body, he feels great. 

Carefully, he picked up his workout regime again. He didn’t tell Foggy and Karen, he knows they don’t want him to go out Daredeviling again, and he knows that they are hoping that his injuries will prevent him from going back out too soon.

Foggy is keeping him busy by giving him some tricky tennant cases to work on. Matt is currently looking through all the complaints listed by the renters when Karen knocked on the door. 

‘Hi Karen,’ Matt smiled brightly as he let her in. 

‘Hey Matt, I hope I’m not interupting you,’ she said. 

‘Not at all. I was just looking over some cases Foggy send me. Do you want something to drink?’ He walked to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. 

‘Errm, no thanks. I’m not staying too long.’ 

Matt frowned and heard her heartbeat spike. ‘Why? Is there something wrong?’

Karen bit her lip and hussled through her back. She pulled out a small piece of paper, smooth surfaced on one side. A photo, Matt realized. 

‘I have done some digging into who might have pulled you out from underneath that building,’ she started. Matt waited for her to continue. 

‘I already showed Foggy and Jessica, before we found out you were still alive. This is a photo from a camera still, from a camera across the Midland Circle building.’ 

Matt nodded and let his fingers run over the photo. It’s all smooth, he couldn’t tell what’s on it. 

‘What does it show?’ he asked. 

‘Well, you can’t really make anything out of it. Its mostly just grays and shadows. But one of these shadows is really odd and I thought it…. Well… I thought it might have been Elektra.’ 

Matt sucked in a breath and felt his muscles tense. ‘Are you sure?’

‘No,’ Karen said. ‘But it is possible she could have made it out if you have too, right?’

‘It is possible,’ Matt agreed. He had had a long discussion about it with the other Defenders. They all wanted to solve the mystery of who saved him. Even Jessica, who claimed she hated lose ends. 

‘She was with you, right? When the building collapsed?’ Karen asked. 

Matt sighed. ‘Yes, I remember holding her when the walls came down. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let her go after the others. She was my responsibility and I couldn’t let her die alone. Not again.’ 

Karen swalowed away the emotion she felt in her throat. Matt had explained earlier how he once had held Elektra in his arms and how she died on a rooftop, taking a hit that had been meant for him. 

Karen loved Matt, and she knew he loved her too, but she would never be able to understand the fucked up relationship he had with Elektra. 

‘You always put so much on your shoulders,’ she sighed. ‘You didn’t have to stay behind with her to die.’

‘We had just agreed to blow up the building. To kill everyone who was down there in the hole. In case you haven’t noticed, I am against killing people. I only agreed to it because we had no other choice. And I stayed behind because I had to give the others a chance to escape. Because I couldn’t fail Elektra again. Because I couldn’t condemn those people to die if I wasn’t willing to do the same. I didn’t want to die, Karen. But I was ready to.’ 

Karen angrily shook her head. ‘You have a serious martyr complex. Elektra is bad. She is evil now. And if she is still alive and walking around, she needs to be stopped.’

‘If that’s the case, I will go after her myself. She is my responsibility,’ Matt repeated. 

‘No, she’s not! I only came to tell you what I think. And I think that, if she is indeed alive, she needs to be stopped. And YOU need to stay away from her! Everytime she shows up, you get hurt or worse, and we lose our best friend.’ Karen was shaking from anger now. Matt had reacted exactly the way Foggy predicted. Whenever Elektra was concerned, Matt couldn’t think rationally anymore. 

Matt took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down. He didn’t want to fight with Karen, but she just didn’t understand why he had to do what he had to do. 

‘Elektra died because she saved my life. I had to bury her. And when she came back, she turned against the Hand to save me again. I owe her. If anyone is going to find Elektra, it will be me. And if she needs to be stopped… I will take care of that too. I did this to her, that makes her my responsibility.’ 

Karen’s eyes started to water and she angrily blinked away the tears. ‘Fine. You do what you have to, but I am done. I care about you, Matt, but I can’t stand by and watch you die all over again.’ 

She left and slammed the door behind her, hard. She hated that Matt still cared that much about Elektra. That he still wanted to go out as Daredevil and risk being hurt. She had hoped that one day they could start dating again, but that day would not come any time soon. 

‘Bad day?’ 

Startled, Karen turned around and saw Angel. 

‘The worst,’ she grunted. 

Angel put her hands in the air. ‘Hey, I know you don’t like me, but there is no need to take it out on me while you are actually angry at Matt.’

‘And how would you know I’m angry at him?’

Angel sighs. ‘I read people’s emotions. And yours are telling me that you are angry, dissapointed and jealous. And since we are standing infront of Matt’s building, I assume it is him you are angry at.’ she shrugged. ‘Ya see? It’s basic math.’

‘Great. Did you know it is considered rude to dismantle people’s emotions like that?’ 

‘Someone might have mentioned it before,’ Angel admitted. ‘But like Matt can’t cancel out hearing heartbeats or sensing objects, I can’t cancel out the emotions people send out.’ 

‘But you haven’t been in a chemical spill,’ Karen argued.

Angel smiled. ‘You don’t know that.’ 

‘There is a lot I don’t know about you.’ Karen said suspiciously.

‘Yeah, I know you have trust issues. But maybe if you give me a chance to explain… I could help you and you could help me,’ Angel offered. 

Karen frowned. She actually didn’t want to be around Angel longer than necessary. She was scared Angel would somehow figure out what she had done by reading her emotions. From the outside Karen looked calm and incontrol. On the inside however…

At the same time, learning more about Angel could be very useful. Maybe Angel could help her track down Elektra before Matt could.

Sensing Karen was considering the proposal, Angel threw in something extra. 

‘We could talk right now, if you have the time. Lunch is on me.’ 

Karen sighed. Fine, she would hear Angel out. But she still didn’t trust her. The girl was a little too eager offering her help.


	10. Watch out for the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fisks hears about the power vacuum in Hell’s Kitchen. Karen and Angel have lunch together.

The smell of steak was mouth watering. The soft meat, sprinkled with herbs and crispy baked potatoes on the side, was excellently prepared by the prison’s chef. When he had done his time, Fisk contemplated, he would think about hiring the man as his personal chef. He and Vanessa could enjoy dinner together in freedom.

Fisk dreamt of her and his freedom every night. He would destroy the lawyers who had put him in here. He would kill Daredevil. He would go after everyone who dared to take away his dream from him.

‘Sir, I have the evening paper for you, Sir.’ A small and timid man entered his cell with a newspaper in his hand. 

‘Thank you, Francis. Anything interesting to report?’ Fisk asked while cutting his steak. 

‘Not really, Sir. Only that mister Murdock resurfaced. He is currently handling the Barossi tennants case,’ Francis said. 

Fisk frowned. He hadn’t heard from Matthew Murdock in quite some time now. He had almost forgotten about the blind lawyer. Almost. 

The man had had the nerve to meet him in his cell after personally putting him in there. And then he had threatned Vanessa, threatend to ban her out of the country. He had threatned Fisks dream. 

Fisk had been frustrated, unable to do more to the annoying lawyer than promisimg to hunt him down like a dog. To take away his life and those of his friends.   
He had been thinking about how to destroy the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen, but before he had the chance to come up with a plan, Matt Murdock had dissapeared. 

Midland Circle. The Hand. The whole idea of protecting his city had backfired. Exploded, quite literally. Fisk was glad he wasn’t part of that criminal Network anymore, especially since they were all dead now. 

He should never have gotten involved with the Hand in the first place. No, if he needed an army to control his city, he would use his own. He didn’t need superpowered ninjas from a third party. If he needed soldiers, he would create his own and take back what was his. And that’s when the idea hit him.

‘Thank you, Francis. Make sure you keep monitoring mister Murdock and his associates. And please set up a meeting for me with doctor Sanger. We have some business to discuss.’

***

‘Can you please try to relax? I promise not to poison you,’ Angel reassured Karen. They were sitting in the back of an almost empty diner, only an older guy at the bar and the lady running the diner were present. 

‘I am relaxed,’ Karen said, obviously the opposite of relaxed.

Angel sighed and decided not contradict her. ‘I know you have been searching for whoever pulled Matt out from underneath that building.’ 

If possibly, Karen tensed up even more. ‘How do you know that?’ 

‘Because I have been searching too. I don’t like mysteries. And everything Matt told me about the Hand made me feel… uneasy.’ 

‘Why should it bother you?’ Karen asked. 

‘It shouldn’t, but these days you can never be too careful. Look, Matt has supersenses, I have super sensitivity. But to the badguys out there, they only care about the ‘super’ part of our abilities. And if they find out about Matt, there is a chance they find out about me too. And call me selfish, but I have to look out for myself.’ 

Karen frowned, but waited with her questions while the waitress brought them their lunch. 

‘Thank you,’ Angel said to the middle aged lady who tried to muffle a cough. ‘Are you doing OK, Molly?’ she asked concerned.

‘Fine, dear, I’m fine. Can I get you anything else?’   
Karen shook het head and Angel frowned. ‘No thanks, Molly. But maybe you should see a doctor, right? You’ve had that cough long enough now.’ 

Molly waved the concerns away. ‘Don’t worry dear, I’m sure it is just the spring’s hayfever.’ 

Angel sighed as Molly went back to work to serve the older man on the counter. Karen frowned. 

‘You seem to know a lot of people for someone only being concerned about herself,’ she remarked.

Angel shrugged. ‘Even though that’s true, I’m not a bad person. Molly overthere is suffering from early stage lungcancer, and I can help her by suggesting to go to a doctor.’ 

Karen’s eyes wided. ‘You can sense cancer?’ 

Angel shook her head. ‘Not always. I can sense pain, and from experience I know what type of pain goes with what injury or disease. I just observe and diagnose.’ 

Karen frowned. ‘So, why don’t you just tell Molly she has lung cancer?’ 

‘Yeah, I should just tell someone they have cancer, and I just know because I can feel their pain. No way it is that easy and she will believe me,’ Angel said dryly. Karen stayed silent, seeing Angels point. 

‘I can only encourage people to go to the doctor. And in very rare cases I will treat them myself l,’ Angel explained. 

‘Like you did with Matt,’ Karen said. 

‘Yes, although he was the worst case I ever treated myself. Mainly since he refused pain medication,’ Angel grumbled. 

‘He says medication affects his senses,’ Karen remembered. 

‘Yes, but he is also extremely Catholic. Those religious people somehow enjoy suffering, I think.’ Angel sighed as she drowned her fries in mayonaise. 

Karen laughed humourless. It perfectly described Matt and his martyr complex. ‘Yeah, you’re right. So, you usually don’t work as a nurse?’ 

‘No. I try to avoid most people because of my…sensitivity to their feelings.’ Angel said. 

‘Oh,’ Karen hadn’t expected that answer. ‘So, what do you do? Most of the times you hurry away.’

Angel nodded and slurped her milkshake. ‘Yeah, its partially an excuse not to be around more than three people at the time, and I’m also doing a lot of research.’

‘Research of what?’

‘Of me. My abilities. Like Matt, they have to come from somewhere. I just want answers.’ She reached over and stole one of Karen’s fries. 

‘I assumed you were just… born with them,’ Karen said.

Angel shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. Ya see, one day I just woke up in an abandoned building. I was bleeding, and the pain was so intense, like you wouldn’t believe. I had no clue what had happened to me, I didn’t remember anything and I was sure I was dying. So, like a wounded animal I scurried away, and that’s when the nuns found me. They were doing charity work to help the homeless. They took me in, patched me up, and realized I was gifted. So yeah, that’s my life story,’ Angel summarized. 

‘You really don’t remember anything that happened to you?’ Karen asked.

‘Nope. I don’t know where I’m from, I don’t know my birthname, I can’t even remember if I have any family.’ Angel said matter-of-factly. 

‘Angel isn’t your real name?’ Karen cursed herself. This finally explained why she wasn’t able to find any information about the mysterious girl. 

‘The sisters called me an Angel and the name stuck. Eldris, my last name, is actually the name of the priest who helped me creating a new identity. Someone had to apply for all my non-existing identification papers,’ Angel shrugged. 

Karen shook her head. Angel’s story was weird, but not the weirdest she had heard. She would later look into Angel and priest Eldris, to confirm if she was telling the truth. Being a reporter had taught her how to check her facts. 

‘I know you are a reporter and a great researcher,’ Angel said as if reading her mind. ‘Which is why I need your help.’ Karen raised her eyebrow and waited for Angel to continue. 

‘If you help me finding out who I am, I will help you find whoever pulled Matt from the ruins of Midland Circle.’ 

Karen weighed her pro’s and con’s. Having Angel as an ally to try and protect Matt wasn’t the worst idea she had so far. She looked sternly at the young girl who stole another one of her fries, and reached out her hand. 

‘Deal.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been very busy with school, therefore sorry for my irregular updates. I try to post at least 3 chapters per week. Don't hold me to it, tho. 
> 
> Furthermore, huge thanks for all your kuddos and comments. You make writing this fun :)


	11. The Devil's burden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt talks to Father Lantom about his struggles of going after Elektra and being in love with a murderer. Sister Maggie is also at church, and Matt leaves with more questions than answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers, 
> 
> Thank you all for your support during these difficult days. For those who weren't aware of the situation, I will briefly repeat the previous message:
> 
> \---  
> Due to an unexpected death in the family I have been a bit too occupied to post new chapters (also I deleted a long chapter on accident and can't find it anywhere and with everything happening it didn't add much to my motivation to rewrite it). 
> 
> I am terribly sorry to keep you waiting so long. Hopefully I can reward you with a (few) long chapter(s) next week. I promise you I won't abandon you and this story. 
> 
> Thank you for all your support and understanding - I will delete this update once I find the time to write you a real chapter. 
> 
> Stay strong and tell your loved ones you love them. I love you.  
> \---
> 
> Now, I have tried to rewrite the chapter I accidentally deleted earlier- it was a great distraction, and your love for this story motivated me to keep going.  
> As said earlier, I won't abandon you and this story. I have some interesting things in mind for the plot, and we will slowely built up to more action. 
> 
> As always, kuddos and comments are highly appreciated. You guys are the best.
> 
> Yours sincerely, A.

Matt couldn’t get rid off the nervous energy he felt. He had tried to exhaust himself in a heavy workout, but the only result was that his sore body ached worse, and he felt even more restless than before. 

Ever since Karen had shared her suspiciouns about Elektra being alive, Matt couldn’t stop thinking about her. Elektra was his responsibility. She had tried to kill him, she had tried to kill many people, and she had succeeded in killing Stick. 

To be fair, there had been a few moments where Matt was tempted to kill Stick too, but unlike Elektra, he would never cross that line. Or at least, that’s what he still told himself. 

The truth, however, was that he had agreed to participate in a crazy plan which involved killing people. Only the guilty people, and Elektra was one of them. And despite the evil inside her, the black Sky they had awoken, Matt had sensed some goodness inside of her. She had hesitated before killing him, multiple times now. He decided he would give her one more chance, to love her again, to run away together. Or he would die with her. 

Matt couldn’t carry the guilt alone anymore. Even though he wasn’t a murderer, he had done plenty of bad things. He had ruined the lives of the people he loved. He and Foggy spoke rarely and he and Karen met up even less before the Midland Circle incident and after his revelation of being Daredevil. 

After Elektra’s death, the first time, Matt had lost his life too. No lawfirm, hardly any contact with friends, and the messed up woman he loved dead. Being Daredevil didn’t stop the crimes on the street. Every night someone was getting hurt. He would fight and end up bloody. And no one would understand him. Afterall, the only person who had ever understood why he did what he did was dead. 

But then the earthquake had happened. And the aftershocks had brought Matt back into his vigilante life, and somehow he had found Elektra again. Or at least a very dark and twisted version of her. And he loved her still. 

Matt felt conflicted about loving Elektra. She was different from what she used to be. She was even worse of an assassin. She was an abomination. And still Matt wanted to save her. 

Whenever Matt struggled with the blurry lines between good and bad, and events tested his faith and his morals, there was only one person he could go to. Father Lantom. 

Matt walked into the church and folded his cane. He knew the church almost as well as he knew his own apartment. Besides, with his supersenses he didn’t really need the cane.

‘Matthew!’ a susprised voice said. 

‘Sister Maggie, I wasn’t aware you attended this church too,’ Matt smiled warmly at the good sister. 

During his time in the monestary, Sister Maggie had been taking care of him the most. She was a sweet and shy woman, but with a strong character. She’d motherhenned him until the point it was almost annoying, but Matt knew she did it because she genuinly cared. Those people were rare these days. And truth be told, Matt liked being cared for. She reminded him a little of his mother, even though he had never gotten the chance to know her.

‘I actually don’t. I go to the church near Saint Michaels, but I came to see Father Lantom. He…he is a good friend,’ she explained. 

Matt nodded. ‘He is a good man. Tell me, how are you doing? I haven’t heard much from you or the other sisters lately.’

‘Oh, I am fine, the other sisters too. We miss having you around, though, but I’m glad to see you doing better,’ she smiled.

‘Yes, I feel much better. Angel told me I wasn’t in need of her services anymore, so I am really doing well. How is Angel, by the way?’ 

Besides sister Maggie, Angel was the other person who had looked after Matt the most. She wasn’t religious, but she had her own bed and bathroom in the monestary if she wanted to stay there. Matt and Angel had developed a special bond during his weeks at Saint Michaels. Angel was honest and had a dry kind of humor Matt could appreciate. He could ask her questions and she would answer them truthfully or tell him to mind his own business. She stayed mysterious as ever, but Matt liked her anyway. Mainly because she didn’t judge him for being Daredevil. She simply didn’t care why he did what he did. She just accepted the fact that it was part of his life, and didn’t try to convince him otherwise.

‘Angel is also fine, I suppose. I haven’t seen her much lately either. She comes and she goes,’ Maggie sighed.

Sister Mary Constance had said that Angel was a free spirit, she would go where the winds would take her. If that made her homeless, Angel didn’t care. She wasn’t bound to materialistic things or places. Matt nodded. Angel would swing by sooner or later, once she was done with whatever mysterious job she was doing. 

‘Matthew! Dear lord, it’s good to have you back.’ Father Lantom walked towards them, his heartbeat spiked a little once he saw who Matt had been talking to. 

‘Margaret, good to see you as well. Have you come here together?’

‘No Father, it was purely a coincidence,’ Matt smiled. ‘Sister Maggie was one of the people who took care of me when I was… hurt.’

‘Ah, yes.. We really thought we had lost you, son. Your friends asked me to provide a small ceremony. I am glad to see we were mistaken about your wellbeing. And from what I heard from my friends at Saint Michaels, you are doing a lot better,’ Father Lantom remarked. 

‘I am,’ Matt admitted. ‘But there is still something I’d like to talk about. I was hoping you had some time for me.’ He smiled in the direction of sister Maggie. ‘I hope that’s alright with you?’

‘It’s fine. I am in no hurry,’ Maggie assured him. Father Lantom sighed. He could already tell it was going to be a long day. Whenever Matt wanted to speak with him, Fathers Lantoms own believes were tested as well.  
‘It’s a good thing I haven’t reached my coffee limit of the day yet,’ he sighed. 

***

Father Lantom handed Matt a latte and sat down on a chair across from the blind lawyer he was so fond of. 

‘I assume that whatever it is that is on your mind has to do with the events at Midland Circle,’ the priest said. 

‘Partially,’ Matt agreed. He sighed deeply. ‘I can’t help but feel like I have failed.’ 

‘You saved an entire city and all your friends with your actions,’ Lantom reassured him. 

‘I know, and I would do it again. But I am afraid my reasoning was wrong.’ 

‘You were wrong to save the people you care about?’

‘I agreed to a plan to kill members of an organisation which was reponsible for many murders, drug trafficing, and the earthquake. I took it in my own hands to kill and punish the guilty, but I am not sure if they were all guilty. One of them… one of the people I condemned used to be someone I deeply cared for,’ Matt explained. 

Father Lantom frowned and took a sip from his latte. ‘Maybe you should start at the beginning, because I don’t think I’d understand otherwise.’

So, Matt started to explain. All of it. Ofcourse, he had told Father Lantom bits and pieces about his nightlife before, but never as elaborate as now. He told about how he had ruined his friendship and relationship with Karen and Foggy, he spoke about Elektra’s death, the first time. He explained how she died in his arms, and how it might have been his punishment for wanting to run away with a murderer. Elektra was bad, but he loved her in their own twisted way. 

Matt continued talking about how he burried her, together with their old mentor, only to find out later she had been ressurected by an evil organisation. It had tested his faith, and when he was forced to fight her he realized Elektra had become a darker version of herself.  
She had tried to kill him, multiple times. She had killed many others, including their mentor. But despite that, Matt still believed there was some goodness inside of the woman he had once loved. Afterall, she had hesitated to kill him. 

Matt had teamed up with three other skilled individuals who had taken it up on themselves to protect the city. And in the end, the only way to protect the city was to end the Hand. To make sure they would never come back. That’s why Matt had agreed to kill them. To kill Elektra. 

‘I tried to reason with her. She remembered me, I thought I could get through to her.’ Matt spoke softly. ‘But she would never let it go. And I couldn’t let her die, not again. Not alone. How could I condemn her and all those other people to die, if I wasn’t willing to do the same? Didn’t that make me just ad bad as the Hand, to decide about life and death? I knew they were evil, but I couldn’t live with myself if I’d let her alone. That’s why I stayed behind. I was ready to die. And next thing I know, I wake up in a monestary.’ 

‘God works in mysterious ways,’ Father Lantom said weakly. Matt grimaced. 

‘Yes, but now there is a chance Elektra might be alive. Possibly, she was the one who saved me in the first place. And I owe her. She is my responsibility. I am the reason why she is the way she is.’ Matt sighed. ‘I failed her. And I failed my friends by dragging them down in my life. I put everyone at risk and I don’t know what I am supposed to do know…’

‘What do you want from me Matthew? Are you asking for forgiveness, or permission?’ Father Lantom asked. 

‘I am asking for advice.’ Matt answered. 

The priest sighed. When he had seen Matt he had been happy and relieved to see he was alive and well. That all changed when Matt had started talking about what had happened. Father Lantom had listened patiently and with growing concern. His latte had gone cold, but he wasn’t in the mood for coffee anymore. He needed something stronger. 

‘If you truly want my advice, I will tell you to talk to your friends and find out the truth about who saved you. Find the truth Matthew, and please, be careful.’ 

Matt nodded. ‘Thank you, Father. For listening and your advice. And the latte.’

Father Lantom let out an exhausted sigh as Matt left, but he didn’t get much time to rest. A soft knock announced Sister Margaret. She looked at him with unspoken concern in her eyes. 

‘That boy has a lot of issues,’ Lantom said accusingly. 

Maggie smiled weakly. ‘He takes after his father.’

‘He also reminds me of his mother,’ Lantom retributed. 

‘Perhaps. But he is a Murdock boy. And you know what they say about them.’

Matthew always tried to give all the churchgoers their privacy. He tried to cancel out the noise, to distract himself. But it didn’t always work. And even though he tried not to eavesdrop, he couldn’t help but overhear Sister Maggies conversation with the priest.

What did the good sister know about him and his family?


	12. Kingpin returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilson Fisk is planning to regain his power.

The prison was warming up now the summer announced itself. The old airconditionig system hadn’t been updated in years, but Fisk had a few fans placed in his cell. Usually, the heat didn’t bother him that much, but today he had a meeting with doctor James Sanger, and the room was not ventilated at all. He made a mental note to have a new AC replaced throughout the building.

Doctor Sanger, however, didn’t seem to mind the heat. Happily, he sat down on his chair and pulled up his bag which was filled with folders and notes.

‘Stark Industries succeeded at producing a super soldier once in the forties. And after that, many more organisaties have tried to recreate their own version of Captain America. But they were all doing it wrong.’ Doctor James Sanger smiled and pushed a folder with papers towards Fisk who grabbed it with his hands still cuffed to each other. 

‘If they are all wrong, what is it that makes you right?’ Fisk asked, looking over the files. He had heard of the doctors work before. The man had gained his interest due to their shared believes in making the city a better place. But where Fisk tried to do that with money and controlling the criminals by being the worst of them all, doctor Sanger tried to do it by improving people. Manipulation, healing, experiments. All illegal, ofcourse. The doctor hated bureaucracy and supervision from ignorant government puppets as much as Fisk did.

‘The right candidates, ofcourse. You don’t need weak people. You don’t need especially skilled people. You just need regular people. Regular people are great for blending in. You only need to train them, give them something extra, and you can built your own kind of super soldiers without making them Steve Roger lookalikes,’ doctor Sanger smiled.

‘And this.. project Darwin? You have been working on it for five years.’ Fisk read from the file. 

‘Yes, it is all about evolving the regular soldiers but without having to give them a super serum of which the formula has been lost since the sixties. We found the name to be fitting,’ the doctor chuckled.

‘Hmm,’ Fisk was less amused by the cheerful doctor and skipped to the last files in the folder.

‘As you can see, we have only just begun with human testing. The results are rather promising,’ doctor Sanger pointed out. ‘And with the right funding, the right resources, the right people... we can really make a difference in this world.’ 

Fisk nodded. ‘I agree. This city has been crumbling down, I have a vision to make it a better place. I am very interested in your work, doctor.’

The man beamed at the praise. ‘I am glad to hear it, mister Fisk. And the outcome of project Darwin can be yours if you can help us with the funding.’

Fisk new there would be a price tag. There was always a pricetag. If there hadn’t been, he would have been suspicious. Money was a language he understood. The only problem was, Fisk was practically broke. Most of his assets were frozen, and the rest of it was for Vanessa’s protection and wellbeing. 

‘I don’t want you to speak about project Darwin to anyone but me. I will pay for your services, and you will provide me with results within three months.’ Fisk said.

He would have to find new ways to earn money. Ofcourse, the Darwin project would eventually bring in money. No one would mess with him if he had those soldiers to protect him and Vanessa. He could send them out to controll the lowlife criminals who worked for him. They could even be courriers if he needed them to be.

The cheerful doctor hesistated before answering. ‘Sir, three months is a very short time… and we need a lot of resources if we are going to meet the deadline…’ 

‘I will take care of the resources and the financial aspects.’ Fisk reassured him. ‘But I need you to have at least one functioning soldier for me in three months. Now tell me, can you do that?’ Fisk glared at the now less cheerful doctor. In three months, he would get free on parol for his good behaviour. And Vanessa had already made it clear she would be waiting for him in New York. Fisk needed to be sure she was safe. The doctor swallowed and put the folder back in his bag. 

‘Ofcourse, Sir. We will do our very best.’ 

Fisk nodded satisfied. He would start making arrangements. He had to take back Hell’s Kitchen. And now the Hand was gone and the Punisher had taken out the rest of the competition, Fisk had high hopes he could take back his empire. Maybe he would have to work together with some sketchy people, but he could take the risk. If project Darwin would prove to be succesful, if he could fill the drugs void left by his dead competition, he could regain his position as the true Kingpin of New York. 

‘Please, keep me updated. You can contact me through mister Donovan.’ The doctor hurriedly gathered his things and thanked him for the opportunity while he left the warm room. Fisk sighed.

‘Someone should really fix the airconditioning in here.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for this short chapter. I hope you will appreciate my twist to the story.
> 
> Suggestions, kuddos and comments are always welcome, and I promise longer chapters in the near future.
> 
> Thank you for reading, cheers from the Netherlands! - A.


	13. The Devil's helper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt is ready to go out as Daredevil again, but first he needs a new suit.

‘I am not even going to ask.’ 

Foggy sighed deeply as he took off his coat and put his bag on Matt’s kitchen table, which was already fairly occupied with billy clubs, boxing tape, black knee protectors, a black long shirt, and a first aid kit. 

‘I appreciate that,’ Matt smiled as he tightened the belt on his black cargo pants. Without hesitation he reached for the tactical boots next to the couch. It still amazed Foggy to watch his blind friend do those ordinary tasks without using his eyesight, normally, he would have commented on it if the sight of Matt’s shirtless and scarred torso hadn’t made him speechless. 

Matt pretended he didn’t know Foggy was looking at him and continued tying his shoes. The heavy silence was killing Foggy, and he broke when Matt winced as he tried to stretch his left leg. 

‘No, I am going to ask. What the hell, Matt. Are you Daredevilling again?’ 

‘Daredevilling isn’t a verb,’ Matt deflected. 

‘It is also not a real job! Or an appropriate pasttime. I mean, look at you!’ Foggy angrily guestured at all the reminders of Matts wounds. 

‘You know I can’t look-’

‘CUT.THE.CRAP.MURDOCK.’ Foggy really wasn’t in the mood for blind jokes.

Matt stood still and looked guilty, half dressed in his daredevil outfit. ‘Foggy…’

‘No. You don’t get to Foggy me. Jesus, Matt, we barely got you back and already you are planning to beat up criminals in dark streets?’ 

Matt shrugged apologetically, but Foggy wasn’t done with his lecture. ‘If you think you can go out, only a week after your cast came off and Angel said you could ease off the pain medication, you are soooo wrong, buddy. You are still recovering. No way I will let you back out on the street in your pyjamas.’ 

‘They’re not pyjamas,’ Matt tried to argue. 

‘Not the issue here. If you want to go out and be Daredevil, fine. But I won’t have you die on your first night out just because you are too stubborn to give yourself the rest you need to recover. Understood?’ 

Matt sighed. ‘I wasn’t going to take any unnecessary risks…’ 

‘If you could see my face, you would know I am looking at you really unimpressed.’ Foggy said exasperated. 

‘Yeah… I get the picture.’ 

‘Do you, Matt? Because you dressing up like this, setting up your secret Daredevil cave, preparing a god damn medical kit, that doesn’t seem like it!’

Matt walked to the fridge and took out two beers. ‘I promise you, I wasn’t going to take any unnecessary risks. If any, I was only going to visit the guy who made my Daredevil suit.’ 

‘The one with the horns?’ Foggy asked dryly. He had given up and accepted the beer as he collapsed on Matt’s couch. Matt sat down next to him. ‘Why does everyone object so much to my suit?’

‘You’re lucky you’re blind.’ Foggy sighed. 

‘You’re an asshole.’

Foggy smiled weakly. ‘Right back at ya, Murdock.’ They both took a sip from their beer.

‘I’m sorry, Fog.’ Matt said eventually. ‘But you know why I have to do this. I hear all those people in need at night, and I can help them. I have to help them.’ 

‘Yeah, but last time you went out, you were believed to be dead for almost two months.’ Foggy pleaded. 

‘That was an evil ninja organisation, and they’re all dead now. And the Kitchen has been relatively quiet lately. And if I need help, I’ll ask Danny. He has watched out over this city when I could’t. I’ll be fine.’

‘If you ever die on me again, remind me to carve the words “I’m fine” into your headstone,’ Foggy grunted.  
‘Thanks, buddy,’ Matt smiled. He pushed himself of the couch and walked to the table where he grabbed the tape. ‘Do you mind helping wrapping me up?’ 

‘Sure. Would you like me to put a ribbon in your hair too?’

‘Very funny, Foggy. I can also do it myself if you don’t want to,’ Matt sighed. He had hoped Foggy would be less offended about the Daredevilling if he could help. Maybe if he had made sure if his best friend was wrapped up nicely and less likely to be hurt, he would be more at ease. 

‘No, I can help. I’m up, I’m up.’ Foggy placed his beer on the coffee table and took the tape Matt handed him. ‘Ehm, how do I do this?’ 

‘I hold the tape here, and you wrap it tightly around my chest, two times. But not too tightly,’ Matt warned him as Foggy started wrapping the tape around him. 

Foggy swallowed as he touched Matt’s scarred and muscle-toned skin. Some of the scars were older and reminded Foggy about the time he had found Matt bleeding out on the floor. Other scars were obviously a lot more fresh. Foggy was especially careful when he pressed the tape to a particularly nasty looking scar on Matt’s left side. ‘Damnit, Matt.’ 

‘Yeah, I don’t recommend having a building fall down on you.’ Matt said dryly.

Foggy rolled his eyes. ‘You think? You know, I still kinda hate you for almost dying, right? Hell, I even hate myself. If I had never brought you that Daredevil costume this never would have happened, and now you are going out to get yourself a new suit and I am just supposed to let you?’ 

Matt finished up the wrapping and put on the shirt. ‘That suit saved my life. You saved my life, Foggy. And I think you know that I can’t stop doing this. It is part of who I am, and I have to do this. I was hoping you’d realize it is much better to go out in some kind of armor than in – according to you – black pyjamas.’ 

Foggy sighed. ‘Yeah, you’re right. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Just… just come back safely, okay?’

Matt grabbed the billy clubs and pushed them between his belt. ‘See? I’m fine. And I always come back safely.’ 

Foggy snorted. ‘You’re full of shit. I just came by to drop off some case files and hang out, not to help you prepare to beat up bad guys. Wait, does that make me an accessory?’ 

‘I promise not to tell on you,’ Matt smiled as he pulled the black scarf over his head. ‘And maybe you can ask Angel to hang out. She has been standing in front of the door for the past five minutes.’ With those words, Matt left through the window on the fire escape. 

Foggy sighed deeply and sat himself down on the couch again and heard the front door being opened. ‘Hi Angel.’ 

*** 

It felt good to be out on the streets again. Or technically, on the rooftops. Matt enjoyed the thrill of leaping over alleys, undetected and silent as the night. He had to be careful with his left leg, and carefully made sure that his right leg would catch most of his weight. His ribs protested as well at every landing, but having them secury taped together Matt didn’t worry too much. 

He’d missed this. Going out in his city, tasting the air, becoming one with the sounds. It was almost a pity Melvin lived so close by. 

Matt inspected the garage before entering. At first it appeared to be deserted, so Matt decided to go inside. It had been a long time since he last visited Melvin, even before the Midland Circle fiasco. Matt could only hope and pray Melvin was still working here.

The interior of the garage was just as he remembered it. Old equipment and worktables littered with tools and various materials stood on the side of the garage. 

‘I knew you weren’t dead.’ 

Matt smiled upon hearing Melvin’s voice. ‘Hi, Melvin. It’s good seeing you again. It has been too long. How’s Betsy?’

Melvin shrugged. ‘Doing alright, I guess. She’s been helping me to find a new job.’

‘That’s great. Are you having any luck with finding a new job?’ Matt was releaved to hear Melvin and his Betsy were still okay after his months of absence. 

‘I suppose,’ Melvin shrugged again. ‘But I like working in my shop here. I don’t wanna leave but I don’t have as many customers as I used to.’ 

Matt nodded empathetically. ‘I understand. Say, Melvin, I would like to give you a small job. I will pay for it, ofcourse.’ 

‘You don’t have to pay me, mister Daredevil.’ Melvin protested. 

‘No, please, I insist. As you can see I don’t have your suit anymore. It got destroyed in an accident. I would like for you to make me a new one. You did a great job the last time I was here. That suit really saves my life,’ Matt said grateful. 

Melvin beamed at the praise. ‘Ofcourse, mister Daredevil! I already have some ideas, but I didn’t know when you or the pretty girl would be back.’ 

The pretty girl. Elektra. 

‘Yes, I’m sorry it took so long. But I am back now and I am looking for… the pretty girl. Do you know when you can have the new suit finished?’

‘Probably by the end of this week. I don’t have any customers at the moment, so it will be the only project I’m working on.’ Melvin said.

‘That’s fantastic, Melvin. I will be back next week and we can discuss the price then, okay?’ 

‘Okay.’

Matt smiled and turned around to leave the workshop, but Melvin stopped him. ‘Mister Daredevil?’

Matt stood still and looked questioningly in Melvin’s direction. 

‘I am really glad you are not dead.’ 

Matt smiled. ‘Me too, Melvin. Me too.’


	14. A guardian Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel and Foggy become friends. Matt is stopping some of Fisks drugsdealers, and he suspects a bigger plan might be in action.

Angel walked directly to the fridge to get a beer herself, before taking place in the chair across from Foggy.

‘Long day?’ he asked. 

‘Terrible. And I needed a drink but I’m practically broke and they don’t have beer at the monestary,’ Angel sighed. 

Foggy nodded understandingly. ‘So, naturally you come to raid Matt’s fridge.’ 

‘Naturally. And he has the best beer. And food.’ Angel sipped her beer and put her feet on the coffee table. 

‘You just missed him. He is going to get a new Daredevil suit,’ Foggy said. 

‘Yeah. I heard about the drama. You’re not very happy about it,’ she smiled.

‘He is my best friend. I just want him save,’ he defended himself. Angel shrugged. ‘He can take care of himself. And besides a new super drug the streets have been quiet. No Fisk or Punisher or evil ninjas.’ 

‘And how exactly would you know about all that?’ he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 

‘I live on the streets. Word gets around,’ she took another sip. ‘Also, I like to know what’s going on, so sometimes I dig a little deeper into certain rumours. It is all about asking the right questions.’

‘Yeah, but you don’t go out as a vigilante, kicking the crap out of people. And you have super healing powers or something, while Matt just stumbles home while losing blood ans with broken bones.’ Foggy grunted.

‘That’s because I am selfish and looking out for myself. I don’t get into fights. Matt, on the other hand, is looking out for the city, so he has to get into fights. He is a good person.’ 

‘Yeah, but it wouldn’t hurt if he would be a little more careful,’ Foggy sighed. 

Angel drank the last of her beer and put it on the table. ‘Would you be less concerned if someone looked out for him?’

‘What, are you volunteering to become his sidekick?’ Foggy askes dryly.

Angel shrugged. ‘He doesn’t need one. He can beet up lowlife criminals by himself just fine. I think even you can manage to scare away muggers if you were prepared for it. No, what i am saying is that whenever Matt is going after the big fish, gang leaders, crime organisations, that kinda stuff, I could be back up.’   
‘Didn’t you just say you were selfish?’

Angel gave him a wicked smile. ‘Exactly. And I like to know what’s going on in this city to be able to protect myself. If I help Matt he can help me.’ 

‘Help you with what?’ Foggy asked warily.

‘I promised Karen I would find out who saved Matt from the ruins, and in return she would help me find out my identity. Where I got my powers. If I work with Matt, I have a bigger chance to find out both and I can keep him safe. And then you owe me too,’ she said smugly.

Foggy sighed. ‘I really don’t understand why the nuns named you Angel.’ 

Karen had told him a little about her meeting with Angel. And even though it was weird that Angel literally didn’t remember the first twenty years of her life (if that really was her age), Foggy still believed her. He trusted the young girl and he was grateful for her caretaking of Matt. 

‘I appreciate you too,’ she smiled. 

‘You said you weren’t a mind reader!’ Foggy acquised her. 

‘I am not. But I felt you being grateful and I took an educated guess. Also, I do appreciate you. You are pretty cool Fog. You can control your emotions pretty well. Better than Matt and Karen at least.’ 

Foggy smiled. ‘Thanks. And yeah, you’re not so bad either.’ 

Apperently he and the mystery girl were now officially friends. 

…

It took about a week before Matt really went back Daredeviling. His new suit was great. Light and strong, and Melvin promised it would endure a building falling down on it. However, if Matt would survive it too was still a question so he didn’t recommend Matt trying it out. 

Matt had laughed and promised to stay on top of buildings instead of getting burried underneath it. Now, he was running over the roof tops, completely in his element. 

However, this was still Hell’s Kitchen. And no matter how quiet it had been lately, one didn’t have to look far for criminal activity.

‘I just don’t understand. Why do we have to do the dirty work?’ a small man complained. ‘Because we aren’t known dealers. And we don’t need the hobo addicts to sell the new product to. We, my friend, are going to mingle with thr regular people. Give them a little something extra,’ the bigger man grinned. 

His partner started laughing too. ‘Yes, a special gift from mister Fisk.’ 

A long forgotten anger started boiling inside of Matt. Ofcourse Fisk would try to regain power. He had warned Matt he could not be stopped, even though he was still in prison. 

Matt leaped from the roof. ‘Evening,’ he smiled, before kicking the smaller man in the stomach and hitting the taller one with the billyclubs. He was knocked out immediatly, Matt heard from his regular heardbeat, so he focused his attention on the smaller man. 

‘I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about Fisk.’ Matt said to the man who was gasping for air. 

‘Hey.. we… we just do… as told,’ the man breathed. ‘How noble. Working for Fisk. What is he planning?’

‘I don’t know!’ The man lied. 

Matt kneeled next to him on the ground and cocked his head to the side. ‘Really?’ He said alarmingly calm.

‘I swear, man!’ 

The devil’s patience had run out and he hit the man hard on the knee, hard enough to hear the bone grinding. The man screamed. 'Fuuuuck. What the hell. I didn’t do nothing, man!’ he cried. 

‘Don’t lie to me,’ the devil growled. ‘You are working for Fisk. What are you doing here?’ 

‘We were supposed to hand out new drugs. We were just delivering to the clubs. Meant for the party scene.’ Figuring this wasn’t worth breaking any bones for, the smaller man confessed everything. 

Matt frowned. Why would Fisk deliberatly target the younger people at the clubs? ‘Why?’ he demanded to know. 

‘I don’t know, we were just told to get this to Eden!’ The man was still crying. 

Eden was one of the more elegant clubs on the edge of Hell’s Kitchen. Or at least, elegent for Hell’s Kitchen’s standards. It was also the only club in the Kitchen, which was otherwise mostly dominated by pubs and tiny bars.

‘I think I’ll take it instead,’ the Devil grinned. He took the backpack from the crying man and felt that it was heavy and tge containments wrapped in plastic. He couldn’t smell what was inside the plastic. 

‘Please, just let me go,’ the man cried. Matt sighed, got out one of the plastic wrapped packages (probably pills, since he could hear the ratteling), and threw the backpack with the rest of it on the ground next to the man. 

‘I am going to call the cops,’ he said slowely, and the mans heartbeat skipped a beat, ‘and you will confess dealing for Fisk.’ 

‘Hell no! I can’t just…-’ but he didn’t get to finish his sentence. Matt had already knocked him unconcious. He called Brett, and climbed back on the roof. He took the one package with pills him. If this was a new dangerous drug, Matt had to do something about it. Maybe Clair knew what they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone for the long wait. Finals were crazy. Life was busy. Motivation to write was far away.... but I am back! And i am stubborn enough to finish this story so you won't get rid of me so easily.   
> As always, thanks for the support and kuddos and comments are highly appreciated. 
> 
> Cheers!


	15. Take on the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kingpin wants to kill both the blind lawyer and Daredevil. Matt asks Claire for help regarding the new drugs that are taking over Hell's Kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no read! Life happened and I simply didn't have the time or motivation to write new chapters. But I am back!
> 
> I have the plot ready, I have motivation to write, but my time is still limited. I will try to write at least a chapter a week. 
> 
> Thanks for your support sofar :)

Wilson Fisk was lifting weights in the prison yard. It kept him in shape and gave him time to think about his Daredevil problem.

The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen had intercepted too many of the Darwin drugs and what was worse, he got that damn lawyer Matt Murdock involved.

Murdock and Fisk were no friends, far from it. And probably having heard about Fisk running the new operation from his buddy Daredevil, the blind lawyer really seemed out to keep him in prison for as long as possible. 

A new investigation was being conducted. The non-corrupt cops and lawyers, which, unfortunately for Fisk were the majority of the investigation party, appeared to be on Murdock’s side. 

Normally, Fisk would try and bribe the cops. He would have Murdock killed, but he wanted to do it himself, and with any luck he woule take down the demonic vigilante too. However, the investigation would keep him in prison for at least another two weeks. The Darwin project was promising, but it had costed more than he’d bugeted, and in other words; Fisk was broke.   
He was also angry. Daredevil and Murdock were keeping him away from his fiancé, something they would surely pay for. 

For now, he took out his anger on focusing on his workout. He had lost some weight, but gained more muscle. It satisfied him to think about beating Murdock to a pulp. To kill the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. There would be no need for vigilantes in the near future. Once Fisk was done with creating his army, he would keep Hell’s Kitchen safe.

The Kingpin smiled as an idea started to form in his mind.

…

‘Matt!’ Surprised Claire opened the door for the blind lawyer. ‘Are you okay? You are not hurt, are you?’   
‘Hello Claire,’ Matt smiled. ‘And no, I am not hurt nor dying.’

‘That would be a first,’ Claire said dryly as she let him in. Matt laughed. ‘Yeah, but this isn’t a social call either. Two weeks ago I found this and I’d like to know what it is.’ 

He handed her a small plastic bag and found his way to her couch. He cocked his head as to “see” the tiny apartment. ‘Nice place you have here.’ 

‘No need to flirt. If you could actually see it you’d know that isn’t the case,’ she said unimpressed. She had been dealing with the Murdock-bullshit for far too long.

She focused on the plastic bag again, and especially the blue-white colored pills inside. ‘What are these?’

‘Some new sort of drugs. I busted two dealers and handed them over to the police with the majority of the pills. But this stuff keeps resurfacing and I’d like to know what it is.’ 

‘I haven’t seen any of it at the clinic. I’d have to research this…’ she walked to the kitchen and took one pill out of the bag to cut open.

‘Are there any fatalities reported?’ she asked. 

Matt shook his head. ‘Not that I know of. Not yet anyway. But the weird thing is that some people get addicted to the stuff, and some don’t. And then the ones who don’t end up missing.’

The insides of the pill was a powdery white substance. It looked simillar to a squished aspirine. She sighed and figured it would be best to do a more thorough research at the clinic.

‘What is your theory?’ Claire asked, knowing the lawyer always had some weird theory ready.

‘Fisk,’ he said bitterly. ‘He is the only one left in this city capable of running such a large scale drugs operation, and he will be released next week on parol. One of the dealers confessed working for Fisk, so I requested a formal investigation, but that won’t hold him off for long.’ 

Claire sighed and took the seat across from him. ‘Matt, even if it is indeed Fisk and these drugs make people dissapear, why is it always you who has to save everyone?’ 

Matt gave her a confused look. ‘Because I can. Because I hear it happening. And if I can do something about it then I should.’ 

Wisely, Claire left the discussion for what it was. She would never be able to talk Matt into taking some days off of his vigilante life. ‘Alright, so now what’s the plan?’ 

‘I keep tracking Fisks men, take out the dealers and I was hoping you could help me find out what exactly those drugs are,' he explained. 

Claire nodded. ‘Fine, but what about those missing people?’ 

‘I suppose I’ll look for them too,’ he sighed.

He stayed at Claire’s untill Luke came home. They offered him to stay for dinner, but he politely declined. He didn’t want things to become more awkward, hanging out with his ex girlfriend and her indistructable boyfriend. Also, he and Claire had the silent agreement to leave Luke out of this. The unbreakable man had enough problems to deal with in his own part of town.

Matt walked back to Hell’s Kitchen, distracted and thinking about how he should deal with Fisk. He was almost home when he realized someone was following. 

He pretended not to know someone was walking behind him and he stopped in the middle of the pavement, looking confused. However, that turned out to be a mistake.

‘Mr Fisk sends his regards.’ 

A heavy blow to the back of his head knocked Matt out, his world of fire reduced to darkness.


	16. Finding Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen works together with Angel to find Elektra. Then they hear that Matt is missing.

Karen had grown used to unexpected events destroying her life. However, that didn’t mean she had to like it.

‘You look like crap,’ Angel said as a greeting while she walked into the tiny office without knocking.

‘Then I must look better than I feel,’ Karen replied annoyed. Angel considered the comment for a second. ‘Yeah, you’re right. I should know. So, what got you all bitchy today?’

Karen was tempted to say ‘I am looking at her right now’ but that would probably be too mean. She needed Angel, whether she liked it or not. And truthfully, Angel was a great source for article stories and street gossip with her vast network of homeless people. Only a week ago Karen got the frontpage with a story about criminal acts against defenceless homeless elderly and the lack of effort from the police to help out, thanks to Angel’s sources.

‘Deadlines, awful colleagues, awful coffee and literally zero new information about the Hand or Elektra,’ Karen sighed frustrated. Angel nodded in sympathy while putting her feet very unsympathetically on Karen’s desk.

‘I can see how that would be a great recipe for a bad day. Luckily, there are people who have it worse,’ she smiled.

‘That really is a horrible thing to say.’

Angel shrugged. ‘At least your problems can be easily solved. Let’s escape those awful colleagues and their awful coffee. I’ve got enough stamps on my coffee-card that I can get one free. My treat,’ she smiled.

‘It’s not really a treat if you are not buying,’ Karen argued. ‘It is if we are using my free coffee stamp-card,’ the tiny blonde retributed.

…

‘Two coffees please,’ Angel told the barrista. She handed her free coffe stamp card over together with the money. ‘Keep the change.’ 

Karen sat on the chair in the back of the corner and gave a grateful nod as Angel handed her a large coffee. 

‘So, we have now handled two of your problems, lets solve the final one too, shall we?’ Angel grinned and handed over an old model smartphone. 

‘What happened to the fossil?’ Karen asked. As far as she knew, Angel was fascinated by modern technology but she was also a bit paranoid about being tracked through any smart devices. It made online texting with her impossible since she refused to let go of her ancient mobile Nokia phone from the 2000’s, which had stilll actual buttons on it and a gray screen.

‘Oh, I still have it. This phone isn’t mine.’ Angel sipped her coffee. 

‘You stole a phone?’ Karen frowned. 

‘More like, I asked for it very nicely and the owner gave it to me,’ the young girl said innocently.

Karen rolled her eyes but pressed no further on the topic. Instead she took the phone and turned it on. ‘What am I supposed to find on this?’ 

‘I don’t know. I just thought you might find it interesting given the fact that this phone’s owner used to freelance as a lowlife criminal for the Hand, and I have reasons to believe Elektra used him to smuggle herself out of the country,’ Angel said casually. 

‘You know you could have lead with that, right?’ Karen didn’t like the feeling that Angel was playing her. 

Eventhough they had an understanding and Angel had proven herself to be a great alley, their relationship was more businesslike than friendly. 

‘Absolutely, but what would be the fun in that? Also, everytime I tell you I have some news, you get all jumpy and anxious and that gets on my nerves. I prefer you being annoyed with me. I can handle bitchy.’ 

Karen took a deep breath and decided not to let Angel bother her too much. ‘Fine. But please tell me what you found out. Why do you think this phone or its owner have anything to do with Elektra?’

Angel smiled and took another sip before answering. ‘Because, one of my contacts claims that he saw someone fitting Elektra’s description threatening this guy, before he agreed to drive her out of town. Ofcourse, there are no camera’s and I am not sure if the scary lady my contact saw over a month ago really was Elektra, but you have to admit it sounds promising.’

Karen sighed. ‘If it was over a month ago, the chances of finding Elektra are almost non existent. I don’t see how a stolen phone can help us now.’ 

Angel shrugged. ‘I am not even sure if we really should try and find her, we don’t even know for sure if it was really her and if she is even alive. But I do know that the guy who drove her out of town is still keeping contact with her. And he is terrified as hell.’ 

Karen blinked a couple of times at the tiny blond across from her. Angel grinned. ‘Maybe I should have lead with that.’ 

Before Karen could curse or scream at her, her phone rang. 

‘Hey Karen, it’s Foggy. Ofcourse you already knew that since there is this thing called Caller ID but I-…’

‘Yes, Foggy, what’s up?’ Karen sighed, still looking mad at Angel. 

‘I haven’t heard from Matt lately. We were supposed to meet up yesterday, and I figured maybe he forgot or something…. happened to him, and I got, like, really worried and…’

‘Please just get to the point, Fog.’ 

‘Well, the good news is that his new… suit is still at his place, so he probably isn’t out there as you know who. The bad news is that I don’t think he has been home for at least two days and he is not picking up his phone.’ 

‘Shit.’ Karen got a bad feeling and Angel, picking up on her worry with her over-sensitivity, suddenly looked very serious. 

‘What happened?’ she demanded to know.

‘Matt is missing.’ 

‘Shit.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your enthusiastic comments! I'm sorry to keep you in the dark a bit longer, but it will be worth it. The coming chapters are my personal favorites to write, I hope you will enjoy them too. 
> 
> Cheers!


	17. Hurting the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt finds himself tied down to a chair and meets his captors.  
> Meanwhile, Foggy, Karen and Angel are trying to find out where Matt could possibly be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry it took so long to update. I am now entering my last two weeks of school, hopefully I can update more frequently once the summervacation starts.  
> I hope you are enjoying this story so far, and as usual, major thanks to all for leaving kuddo's and comments. You make writing this all worth it :) 
> 
> Cheers!

Matt had woken up with a massive headache which was greatly disorienting. It took him a few minutes before he could map out his surroundings. 

He was tied down to a chair in a large room. A TL light was buzzing annoyingly on the high ceiling. The air was cold and damp, and smelled like blood, metal and the mysterious drugs. His best guess was that he was being kept in an old industrial warehouse, or the basement of a large building. 

He only didn't understand why, though. He was dressed in his usual business suit. He tried to remember what had happened. He had gone to Claire to help him find out what type of drugs were on the streets of Hell's Kitchen. He had stayed there the full afternoon. Luke and Claire had invited him to stay for dinner, but he had declined. Now he regretted he had, because his stomach roared at the thought of food. 

He was extremely hungry, so he guessed he had been tied down here a while ago. There were no noises from outside that could help him determine if it was day or night. But guessing from his hunger and the way he could smell his day-old clothes, he assumed it was either night or early in the morning. 

A door opened, but it was higher to the ceiling. Matt fugured this was indeed a basement. 'Ah look at that. You're awake!' A heavy man walkes down the stairs and grabbed a seat to sit infront of Matt. Two other men stood guard near the door, which was inconvenient, Matt thought. 

'Who ard you and why am I being kept here?' Matt said with his pissed-off lawyer voice. The fat man smiled.

'Our employer believes that you and your little friend in that devil costume pose a threat to him. So, we just want to talk to you.'

'I am only a threat to you because I will sue your asses straight to prison if you don't untie my right now,' Matt growled at his captors. 

'You are a blind, tiny, pro bono lawyer. You don't intimidate me as much as that horned friend of yours. So, here is the plan. You are going to sit here until Daredevil shows up. Then, while he will try to rescue you like a damsel in distress, we'll close off the exits and let in some of our...friends. And trust me when I say they are big and mean looking,' the fat man chuckled. 'Ofcourse, it will be a very unfair fight. Five of ours against you and the Devil. Or actually, just him. You are still tied to this chair, and frankly, a blind lawyer just isn't that intimidating.' 

Matt smiled thinly. Again, his disguise proved to be successful. It was just a pity that, if they only expected Daredevil to safe him, they would have to wait a very long time.  
'I don't think he will come. We are not exactly friends, he is a vigilante, he doesn't follow the law like I do. And even if he cared enough to find out I'm missing, he probably doesn't even know where you're keeping me.'

The fat man smiled. 'Oh he will come. My guys are making sure the message will come across. And while we wait, why don't we have a little fun?' 

Suddenly, Matt got a very bad feeling. The two guards who thusfar had been standing in front of the door, now walked down the stairs towards him and the fat man. Their stride was confident. They were tall, muscular, and various tools were hooked onto their belts. 

'I will leave you alone with S-6 and S-7. But you can also call them John and James. I will come back every four hours to see if everyone is still enjoying themselves, and if you feel chatty, you can help us by telling me where we can find Daredevil.'

'Why do you want him so badly?' Matt asked.

'Well, you and him have pissed off my employer. And he has been working very hard to make this city a better place. Hell, he even has worked to make the people who live here better, and I mean that literally.' The fat man stood up and nodded to John and James. 'Subjects 6 and 7 are our first successful outcomes since the start of the Darwin project. And you and Daredevil threaten the success of the rest of the project.'

Matt gasped as one of the guards suddenly drew his chair back over the concrete floor. The sound hurt Matt's ears. 

'Great. Human testing. I'm pretty sure that is considered illegal,' Matt snarled. 'And what exactly is it that your testsubjects do?'

One of the guards placed his hand on Matt's shoulder and squished the muscle tissue and the flesh arouns the bone. Matt remembered getting a painful shoulder massage once, but this was nothing compared to it. It felt like his shoulder was stuck between a bankscrew. The big hand closed tighter around the sensitive muscle area and the nerves, so tight, Matt was afraid his would pop, or even worse, be crushed to pieces. 

He screamed, knowing it was useless and no one else could hear him while he was tied down to the chair. 

The fat man grinned. 'As you can feel, S-6 and S-7 are exceptionally skilled in inflicting pain through their enhanced strenght. So, yes. Now you know what they do.'

And with those words, he left. Leaving Matt panting while John and James started to set up their torture practice. Matt was screwed. 

***

‘When is the last time anyone of us spoke to him?’ Angel demanded to know. They were standing in Matt’s apartment, which was evidently empty and abandoned for at least two days, judging by the left overs of the dishes. Matt not doing the dishes was a really odd thing in itself, since he usually couldn’t stand the smell of old food for longer than a couple of hours. 

‘Errr Monday, I think?’ Foggy shrugged. Karen frowned. ‘I think I only saw him shortly at Josies, and that was last Saturday and not even too long. He wanted an early night, if you can believe it, so he could go to church.’ 

Foggy sighed in agreement. ‘Yeah, he said it had been a while. I asked him if he would take some of my cases Monday, but he said he was busy.’ 

Angel grabbed some of the braille papers from the table. ‘I know my braille still sucks, but I think this is what he was working on.’ She handed the papers to Foggy, who, as Matt’s old roommate and best friend, was best in deciphering the braille. 

‘Yes, these are definitely casefiles. But… wait… why in the…’ 

‘Foggy, would you please finish your sentence?’ Karen sighed frustrated. 

‘It’s about Fisk,’ Foggy said heatedly. ‘And these are recent files. I know this date is from last week. But I can’t really read all of this, or it will take hours. Where is Matt’s laptop?’ 

‘Not here,’ Angel answered after glancing the apartment. Karen groaned. ‘He must have had it with him. Maybe he is just… I don’t know, working on a case? Meeting some clients?’ She wanted to reassure Foggy and herself, but deep down she knew she was bullshitting. 

‘You know as well as we do that Matt would never leave his dishes or laundry laying around for so long. I think we have to consider other possibilities,’ Angel said darkly.  
Foggy looked alarmed at the tiny dark blonde haired girl. ‘Like what?’ 

‘Could be a couple of things. Elektra, for once,’ she looked sternly at Karen. ‘Or maybe he is hurt. Wait, that doesn’t make sense, his daredevil suit is still here… Okay, so maybe he is hurt, but in one of those boring pedestrian kinda ways. Like, run over by a bus or something.’ 

‘Not helping,’ Foggy said on the verge of panicking. 

‘Or maybe he just pissed someone off and got abducted,’ Angel continued. ‘If you say those files are about Fisk, it could very well been that Fisk made true on his threat. And of course there is always the possibility that Matt just got hooked by a girl and went on a very spontaneous vacation, in which case it could still be Elektra.’ 

‘What if it is Elektra?’ Karen asked. ‘Can you find them?’ 

Angel shrugged. ‘I already said I would try to find Elektra, but I have a feeling that, if it was indeed her, Matt wouldn’t have abandoned you guys or his apartment like this. If I were you I would start calling hospitals and start looking into whatever case Matt was working.’ 

‘And what are you going to do?’ Karen asked suspiciously. 

‘I suppose I will just ask around on the streets. Finding a blind living lawyer is supposedly easier than finding a rogue dead assassin.’


	18. The waiting game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt is being used as a punching bag by his captors. Karen, Foggy and Angel call Claire and Angel seems to have a theory about what might be going on.

Matt groaned when the pain woke him up again. After being used as John and James’ punching bag for hours he kept drifting in and out of conciousness. 

It was obvious that his captor, who was apparently named Renold, was working for Fisk. And Matt understood why Fisk would want him and Daredevil out of his way, he really did. 

As Daredevil he was responsible for capturing the Kingpin and revealing all his secrets to the press. As Matt Murdock he was responsible for making sure Fisk went to trial. Also, he had threatend Fisk in prison. He had warned him that he would make sure Fisk would be in lock up as long as possible anf that he would fo anything in his power to keep Vanessa away from him.  
However, corrupt cops and judges and that damned lawyer Donovan had screwed up the process, making it possible for Fisk to be released after only 2 and a half years of prison. Sometimes Matt really hated the system.

He had pissed off Fisk. Both as Daredevil and as Matt Murdock. But what worried him were that, last time hr had spoken to Fisk, Fisk had promised him to destroy him. He had promised him to get him were it hurt most. Matt was afraid Fisk would go after Karen and Foggy. And now he was locked up, tied down to a chair and being used as a plaything by two enhanced evil super soldiers, he was unable to protect them. 

Sooner or later, Renold would realize Daredevil wouldn’t come for the blind lawyer. And when that happened, he might get suspicious. Perhaps Renold or any other of Fisks minions or even thr Kingpin himself was smarter than Matt gave them credit for. Evebtually they would realize Daredevil was gone and then they would make the connection. Matt Murdock was Daredevil. 

Matt Murdock was currently being beaten to a pulp. 

Matt Murdock was barely concious, tied down to a chair. 

Matt Murdock was currently struggeling to breathe with broken ribs.

And no one would come to save him. 

…

Foggy and Karen had started calling the hospitals, the precinct, Father Lantom and the monestary. None had heard anything about Matt Murdock, and with every negative phone call both she and Foggy had become more agitated, which was really getting on Angel’s nerves. That was untill Foggy called Claire.

‘Hey Foggy,’ Claire answered warmly but with a hint of concern. It was late in the afternoon, too early to be called for a what might be a Daredevil injury. However, with Matt you could never be sure.

‘Hey Claire. Have you seen Matt lately?’ Foggy asked directly. 

‘Matt? No, why? Is he hurt?’ 

‘We don’t know. I hope not, but we haven’t seen him in a few days and I was supposed to meet him but he never showed. We’re now at his place and it looks like he hasn’t been home in a while.’ Foggy explained.

‘I saw him last Monday. He asked me if I could research some drugs he had found while patrolling as… you know.’

Foggy bit on his lower lip. ‘Yeah, but his suit is here. So he wasn’t out on the streets.’ 

‘I don’t know, Foggy.’ Claire sighed. ‘Maybe he is just… I don’t know.’ 

Angel had been listening and plucked the phone from Foggy’s hand while putting it on speaker. ‘Hey Claire, it’s Angel. You said Matt gave you some drugs to research?’

Claire had met Angel two times before, when Matt had just came home and still depended on someone caring for his injuries. Claire was still a little sceptical of Angel’s skills and her reluctance to talk about herself, but she could appreciate the no nonsense attitude of the tiny blonde, and her interest in helping people. Claire had enjoyed explaining to Angel how to be a nurse. 

‘Hi, Angel. Yeah, I looked into the drugs.’ Claire still appreciated Angel’s directness. 

‘Is there anything you can tell us? I know there is a new type of XTC in the party scene, but some of the street people have also been in contact with it.’ 

‘Well, there is indeed XTC in those pills. Its actually a weird mix of chemicals, pain stillers and vitamins. But what really concerns me is that there is a higher concentration of radiation than you would expect. A lot higher.’ 

‘So, basically you are telling me that we have some radioactive party pills that keep you healthy?’ Angel asked dryly.

‘I wouldn’t say that radioactive pills are good for your health, but yes. These are all known elements but just in a very weird mix. Especially with the radiation coming off of it…’ 

‘Radioactive chemicals like… Luke and Matt radioactive chemicals?’ 

Claire frowned as Angel theorized. ‘Possibly, but the amounts of radiation with Matt and Luke was probably much higher. And it is not like we can test what exactly gave them their powers. They were all just lucky coincidences. Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it.’ 

Angel nodded. ‘Alright, is there any lead you can give us? A supplier maybe?’

‘No, I’m sorry. Matt said he suspected Fisk, but he couldn’t prove it. Fisk is still in prison…’ 

‘Not for long,’ Foggy grimaced. ‘He is getting out tomorrow.’ 

Angel’s eyes lit up. ‘Really? Hmm, that’s enough of a lead for me. Claire, I’m putting Foggy back on. I gotta go.’ 

‘Where are you going?’ Karen asked confused. ‘The lion’s den. If anyone knows what’s going on, it is the Kingpin and his minions. I have a feeling that Matt won’t be far away from the trouble.’ 

Both Foggy and Karen groaned. ‘He never is,’ Foggy sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am terribly sorry that I left you guys (again). I am not the most regular writer, obviously. I've been busy busy busy and the weather was so nice, so I spend most of my free time on the beach instead of working on new chapters (lame excuse, I know, but it is the truth). 
> 
> So, I'm a bit slow in writing and updating, but thanks to a comment/kuddo this morning I was reminded that I still owed you an overdue chapter. Tadaaa! Here it is (sorry, I know it's short. Any suggestions or other forms of inspiration is welcome, but for now I'm playing the waiting game for great motivation to hit me- hence the name of this title).
> 
> If I take too long in updating, just remind me and I'll try to write chapters a bit faster. If you are fine with my irregular updating schedule, great! Just be patient and have faith that I will finish this story. I might neglect it a little bit, but I won't abandon it. 
> 
> And as usual, thanks so much for all the support!  
>  :) 
> 
>  
> 
> Love, 
> 
> -A.


	19. The Lion's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel gets some clues about where Matt could be, while Matt is being tortured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am terribly sorry for my delay in posting. Last few weeks (months?) have been incredibly busy (and fun) for me, organizing a huge festival.   
> Also, the island where I live was suffering a heatwave and I had little motivation to sit behind my laptop and come up with dark torture scenes for my new chapters. I hope you will forgive me, since I have done my best to write it, and it has become some of my longest chapters so far. 
> 
> Next week I am on vacation, but I do hope to be able to write at least one chapter. I think there will be 7 more chapters to this story before I wrap it up, and for those who are interested I am considering to write a seperate story about our little Angel. I have really enjoyed bringing her character to life. 
> 
> As always, I would like to thank all of you for your patience and support. It is incredible how many people have read the story so far and how many of you keep sending postive comments and kudo's. You make it really worthwile to write this story! 
> 
> With love ~

Matt groaned. He much rather preferred being unconscious than being awake, considering the pain he felt right now. John and James had done a number on him. They used their strength to twist and pull his arms out of their sockets before popping them back. The muscles in his shoulders and his back ached and were badly bruised. 

Matt had hoped this display of brute strength was the only torture he would experience, however Renold’s test subjects from the so called Darwin project had proven themselves to be more creative than that. Still tied down to his chair, John had emptied a bucket of freezing water over his head. Matt was soaked and the cold temperature of the warehouse basement had him shivering. He had cursed and screamed, demanded to be released, but the test subjects only laughed as if they were enjoying his misery, which they probably did. 

Every few hours or so, Renold would come back and give John and James a few suggestions. The latest one had Matt screaming in pain and shock, when, after another dump of water over his head, an electrical current seared through the wet fabric that had once been his suit. 

Matt was sure he had blacked out a couple of times. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed and he didn’t really care until he heard Renold mention that his employer would finally be able to come down and visit them. If it was Fisk - and it was, Matt was sure of it,- that meant that Fisk would visit on Friday, meaning that it was probably late Thursday evening right now. He had left Claire’s place on Monday afternoon. He had been missing for four days and yet no one had come to safe him. Renold had spoken out his disappointment about that fact. He had hoped that at least Daredevil would come to safe the pretty blind lawyer. Matt had grimaced at the irony. If Daredevil was supposedly the only one who could save him, he didn’t have much hope. 

After the first two beatings, it became obvious to Matt that they didn’t want him for information. As Renold had said, they just wanted to use him to get to Daredevil and have some fun in the meantime. It was simply unfortunate for Matt that their understanding of the word ‘fun’ included having the soldiers of the Darwin Project practicing their torture skills on the poor lawyer. However, Matt kept convincing himself that he had endured worse before, and apart from the beatings and the electrical cattle prod, he had actually expected worse. 

Sure, his arms and back hurt. He felt out of breath all the time. The electrical current was ironically draining his energy, as did the diet. Since the time he had left Claire’s house, he hadn’t eaten anything. And the only thing Renold and his minions gave him was water in the form of waterboarding. Matt had also probably broken a few ribs, but that wasn’t a new sensation for him. All things considered, he concluded, it could have been worse. 

Of course, that’s when things started to go downhill. 

***

Angel Mary Eldris knew a lot of things about a lot of people, except herself. The only thing she remembered from when the Nuns had found her, was a dark and cold building on the edge of Hell’s Kitchen. 

During the incident the building had been almost completely ruined and when the city was trying to rebuild it, it became clear that the owner of the building had used it as a shell company to hide his more dirtier business. After he was arrested for his crimes, and no one was interested in buying the building since it was apparently build on chemical poisoned ground, the city of New York decided just to leave the ruins. They would deal with it later and hand their problems to the next city council or legitimate crime boss who would want to buy the dirty ruins. 

The abandoned building now served as a meeting point for the homeless and the dealers. It was here were Angel had woken up and sought her refugee before Sister Maggie had heard her muffled cries, and it was also here where a more shadier person would come to look for information. 

Angel went back to the first place she ever knew to meet with her network. Even though the nuns had practically adopted her this place on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen still felt like home. The sun had only just disappeared from the sky, but somehow these streets were always dark. Angel knew better than to greet the people she passed on her way to the abandoned building, they always wanted to use her skills to take away their pain. But tonight, Angel didn’t have time. 

She had heard some rumours about a new drug before, the same drug Matt was researching and which Claire had described as radioactive. The streets were calling them ‘Charlies’ for some reason. Angel despised drugs and the drowsy feeling people got from them. With her sensitivity to feelings, she often experienced the second hand sensation of being on drugs. However, she hadn’t experienced the feeling of Charlies herself. But she knew someone who probably had… 

‘Daryl, ya home?!’ she yelled while slamming her fists on the scrappy door. ‘It’s Angel! Come on, open up!’ 

She waited and heard angry muttering before a grumpy looking man in his mid-thirties opened the door. ‘What?’ he barked. 

‘c’mon, Daryl, show me some love. Don’t you remember me?’ Angel smiled. Daryl rolled his eyes. ‘Of course. Nothing but trouble. Ya know that those nuns have tried to get me to rehab two times already? I blame you for that.’ 

Angel shrugged. It was probably for his own best if Daryl would go to rehab. But right now she was glad he was still an addict living in Hell’s kitchen. She needed him. 

‘Yeah, yeah. That doesn’t matter right now. Listen, I need some information.’ She walked passed him to the dirty living room. A couple of old mattresses were placed to the wall and an old heater stood in the middle. There were empty beer bottles everywhere and Angel suspected to find some needles if she were to look between the cushions. Daryl had issues. 

‘Just because you cured my backpain doesn’t mean you can storm into my home and demand information,’ mumbled Daryl, not really talking to her. ‘Yeah, but you are a good person and you know you need me once the pain becomes too much. So, you do kinda owe me.’ Angel had found a clean chair and sat down, gesturing Daryl to sit down as well. 

Daryl grumbled something inaudible before doing as she wished. ‘Fine. What information are ya here for?’ 

‘I am looking for a friend. A blind lawyer who has gotten himself into some trouble while researching the origin of a new drug. Charlies. I was hoping you might know where the Charlies came from or who the supplier is,’ Angel said casually. 

‘Fucking vitamins, that’s what Charlies are. The shit can barely get you high,’ Daryl said grumpy. ‘So, you do know about them?’ Angel asked hopeful. 

‘Of course, I am the guy who tries anything. Ya know me,’ Daryl grinned. ‘But those Charlies, yeah. That’s just shit. Didn’t like it much, doesn’t do much. Don’t know why a lawyer would look into it. That stuff is innocent. If he really wanted to make himself useful, he could better try to legalize weed. Or even better, Crystal Meth.’ 

Angel wisely didn’t comment on that last part. ‘Do you know where I can find the supplier of Charlies?’ 

Daryl shrugged. ‘Nah, I think some kinda doctor made them. Like I said, the stuff is more like vitamins. But I know where the dealers of Charlies come and go to.’ 

Angel waited for him to continue, but when that didn’t happen she sighed in desperation. ‘And where do the come and go to, Daryl?’ 

Daryl took a sip from a beer bottle he had found on the ground. ‘Some kinda empty warehouse. Near the docks. Used to belong to the Chinese but they have all disappeared. Fucking idjits. Their H was the best product around…’ 

That was all the information Angel needed. A warehouse near the docks, which had once belonged to the Chinese, probably before the Midland Circle incident. She new that Wilson Fisk had now claimed most of the buildings, although not in his own name. He and his fiancée had appointed several laymen to take care of those buildings. 

She stood up from her chair and kicked some trash to the side. ‘Thanks, Daryl. You have been most helpful.’

‘Anything for you. I need my angel as a friend for when I get hurt again.’ He smiled with his rotten teeth. 

‘If you would just go to rehab, you don’t have to get hurt again,’ Angel replied dryly. Daryl groaned. ‘Safe your speech. Otherwise the nuns will run out of things to say to me.’ 

‘Bye Daryl!’ Angel walked out the door, but Daryl yelled after her. ‘Angel! If you go out there, be careful! I heard that one of the dock-dealers, Renold, has made some friends. And they are mean looking!’ 

Angel smiled and waved as she left the dark street. The night had now really set in, and Angel knew that was the best time to go out and scout the Lion’s Den.


	20. Sins of an Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel finds out where they are keeping Matt and goes to rescue him. However, nothing goes as planned and a lot of people end up hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should warn you guys for descriptive torture scenes, curse words and pain. Having said all that, I will just leave this here and go hide somewhere in shame.

Matt couldn’t tell the difference anymore between being conscious or not. He was in some kind of delirious twilight zone. The pain shocked him awake and made him want to pass out at the same time. His senses were fried. Blood from the back of his head was dripping on the collar of his suit. The smell was overwhelming, as was the taste from the blood in his mouth. It tasted bitter and rusty. The repetitive beatings made his ears ring. He couldn’t distinguish the muffled voices on the other end of the room anymore. He suspected Renold was on the phone with someone, but he was too tired to focus on the conversation. Matt was 99% sure he had a concussion. The other 1 percent was just his stubbornness, refusing to admit he was injured. 

He needed to escape. Somehow, because he was certain nobody else knew where he was. Of course, Foggy and Karen would look for him. Perhaps they would even ask for help from the other Defenders, but Matt knew that by that time it would probably too late for him. If he didn’t do anything soon, he would die. But first he needed to rest. He was so damn tired, if he would just close his eyes, just for a second… 

***

Angel had taken the entire night to investigate the warehouses on the docks, although it hadn’t taken her long to determine which one was occupied. Thanks to her gift she could read the energy patterns of the people inside. She could feel the pain, the stress and the sadistic pleasure through the walls. It was enough to make her skin crawl and want to smash in a window and rescue Matt – she was pretty sure Matt was in here -, but experience had taught her to cover all her bases. 

So, she first checked out the other warehouses. Most were empty, a few were stocked with machines, cars and other inventory, and one was definitely the stocking place for the drugs. The warehouses were collectively guarded by two bored men, struggling to keep their eyes open. Every now and then they would walk between the buildings to stretch their legs, but it was still child play for her to climb through the small window on the backside. Once she was inside she held her breath as she saw the stocked crates filled with Charlies. Angel grimaced. She could destroy the pills right now, but that meant Matt had to wait even longer for his rescue. 

Her practical side took over. Matt knew how to handle pain, he could probably hold out a little bit longer. Angel didn’t know why, but she hated these drugs. Just smelling the pills made her nauseous and fueled with rage. 

She looked around the place, hoping to find something else which would tell her about the origin of the drugs, but besides an address of a pharmaceutical company and addresses of a few shell companies she concluded this place was only used for storage. The drugs must be produced elsewhere and then shipped to this warehouse before being distributed all over New York. Angel sighed but still folded the papers with addresses into the pocket of her jeans. Maybe she had more luck in the final warehouse where Matt was being held. 

Now, how would she destroy these awful drugs? She had looked around and only found some bleach and other cleaning products, but that wouldn’t help her much. The easiest thing would be to set the whole inventory on fire, but she didn’t have anything to help her start the fire besides a lighter. And everything had to be burning beyond repair by the time any of the guards found out about the fire.   
Angel frowned and weighed her options when an idea suddenly hit her. She had to work fast and quietly, and once she had done it she couldn’t escape as easily. Also, she had to think about dragging along an injured Matt on her escape if everything went well. 

She climbed out of the window and sneaked to one of the other warehouses with all the machines. She managed to break off one of the tubes that was attached to the hydraulic system of a lift truck, and find two jerrycans without making too much noise. 

A few times she had to freeze when a flashlight shone past the windows, but besides that she was amazed by the lack of security. She screwed off the top of a fuel tank from one of the cars and measured how much fuel was still inside. It wasn’t much, but luckily there were more cars in the warehouse. 

She had never done something like this before, but how hard could it be? She put the end of the hose in tank and the other end in her mouth. She had made sure to close off the rest of the tank so no air could get to it. She was at least familiar with the theory and the physics of siphoning gas. What she weren’t familiar with was the nasty taste the gas left in her mouth once she started sucking on the hose.   
Angel gagged a couple of times, but managed to do so with limited sound. She looked satisfied at the fuel that was now flowing into the jerrycan. It just sucked (no pun intended) that she needed to fill at least both cans to make a decent fire. 

It had her taken ages to finally get enough. The taste in her mouth was horrible and she was desperate to wash her mouth clean, but even more so to finally get this show on the road and get the hell away from this place. 

She went back to the warehouse with the Charlies, dragging the two jerrycans along. She could only hope this was enough, because she had literally drained all the cars. It would made it impossible for her to escape in a car without any fuel. She needed back up. 

***  
Matt couldn’t control his senses. The loud noise of a bird who was annoyingly announcing the dawn of a new day was causing him a headache. Well, he already had a headache, but this stupid bird wasn’t helping. 

‘Ah, look who is awake!’ Renold said happily. ‘You look like shit. Boys, clean him up. We wouldn’t want the Big Boss having to see his guest in such a state.’ A cold bucket of water was dumped over Matt’s head, leaving him gasping and shaking, but he was also wide awake now. 

‘Mr Murdock, I have to say I am a little bit disappointed that your friend hasn’t shown up yet. I had hoped that by now he would have come for you, and I hate to disappoint my employer. So, I am asking one more time. Where is Daredevil?’ 

‘I’ve heard he usually hangs out in Hell’s Kitchen,’ Matt said with a raspy voice. Renold rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t try to be smart with me, shark. We know you two are acquainted.’

‘I swear, I don’t know anything about him,’ Matt pleaded. His throat hurt while speaking. He suspected to get a beating again, but was unpleasantly surprised with the cattle prod which electrical current burnt his skin. He screamed and tried to get away, but he was still tied down to the chair. 

The burning smell of his skin was overwhelming. The pain was too much, and the smell only became stronger. Needing a release, Matt kept screaming, pleading for help, for the darkness to take him again. The smell only became stronger, and other screams joined his own. 

Renold and his two minions had been laughing at him, but now they were shouting angrily. Glass was breaking in a window. The echo of the shards falling on the ground sounded like an earthquake to Matt. 

‘Get her!’ someone shouted. Matt couldn’t follow what was happening around him, he was still being exposed to the electrical current. Were they forgetting about him? What was going on? 

*** 

From the moment Angel had started the fire she was on a countdown. She had rushed towards the final warehouse and smashed a window. Speed was more important than stealth right now. The warehouse was practically empty, apart from one side where a desk with tools was displayed and a dark haired man was tied to a chair. He was in bad shape, bloody and screaming. A broad shouldered man was pressing a metal stick to his abdomen, a cattle prod, Angel realized. She was overwhelmed by the distress Matt was sending out. And the anger and sadistic joy of his captors was making her sick. It also gave her the focus she needed. 

Startled, the three man looked up when they heard glass breaking. ‘The hell…’ muttered one. ‘Get her!’ On of the big bullies grabbed a gun from the desk and started firing at Angel. Angel didn’t know much about guns and she hoped he would run out of bullets soon. She dived and heard the bullets ricochet from the concrete wall. She rolled over and accidentally pressed her hand in the glass. It hurt, but she was used to pain. She grimaced and smiled devilishly as she figured out a use for the shards. 

Not minding the pain she threw the glass towards the three men, all the while Matt was still screaming. In order to get out of the way of the glass, the shutter ducked to the left. One of the bullets hit the circuit breaker, leaving the warehouse in complete darkness. 

Matt’s screams lessened, he was gasping for breath, hearing the panic unfold in front of him. ‘That bitch! Get her John, come on, I want her DEAD!’ Renold cursed as he was now blinded. 

Unable to fire in the dark and afraid to hit his colleagues, James had tucked the gun behind him in his belt and touched the wall to guide him. He needed to get help. Mr Fisk was supposed to arrive in a few hours, and he would be pissed enough already. They needed to catch the little bitch. 

Angel had rushed over to Matt and cut his arms and feet free from the chair. She had to hold her breath because Matt stank really bad. He reeked of infection and his own piss. ‘Angel?’ he whispered hoarsely. 

‘Surprise,’ Angel grimaced. ‘Can you stand?’ Matt shook his head. The limited blood circulation and the constant beatings and being tied up in a chair for over four days had weakened his body. Angel groaned and tried to lift him out of the chair when someone hit her in the back. The blow caused her to stumble forward and smack to the ground. She gasped as the glass splinters drilled deeper into her hands and she tried to kick her attacker. She managed to hit Renolds shin and he cursed and returned the favour by kicking her between the ribs. Angel screamed. 

Suddenly, light filled the warehouse again. However, it was not from any lamp. The sleepy guards were screaming as the fire ate away the first warehouse and was now starting on the one beside it. The yellow and orange light flickered and Renold looked in horror as the roof caught fire. Angel sobbed and tried to push herself up from the ground. 

‘You did this? You are fucking dead!’ Renold was out of control and walked towards Angel who was crawling away from him. ‘Fucking dead, you hear me!’ 

‘Boss we gotta go!’ John yelled. However, Renold didn’t seem to hear him. Blinded by rage he grabbed Angel by her hair as she screamed and kicked at him, trying to claw at him with her long nails.   
‘Boss!’ 

James had returned with the two guards from outside, his gun ready. He looked at John who was trying to convince Renold to come with him. The sound of the fire on the roof was alarmingly loud and the smoke was thickening. ‘He’s lost it!’ John yelled. ‘We gotta go!’ James ran towards John who was trying to pull Renold away from the little girl. ‘The roof is about to collapse, we have to go. NOW!’ 

A loud snap from one of the wooden beams holding up the ceiling finally caught Renolds attention. The scene seemed to play in slow motion as the burning roof slowly fell down. Angel shakily crawled towards Matt who was barely conscious. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, and then she closed her eyes and screamed.

It felt like being hit by a train. Or a building falling down on you, Matt later thought grimly. All the air was slammed out of his lungs. It felt like his body was on fire instead of the building. All his nerve endings were being stabbed, cut and electrified at the same time. He felt everything. It was too much, too much! He screamed, louder than ever before, or was that just his imagination? It was almost like an out of body experience. He could feel everyone around him, experiencing the same pain. It was ten folded, thousand folded. It felt like a reaching a climax, only increasing and increasing in pain. It wouldn’t stop. And then he was slammed back into his own body. The amount of pain was unreal, and for a second he wanted to laugh but all he could do was gasping for air which he couldn’t get into his lungs. James or John, or maybe both, let out a piercing scream, the type of scream that let your blood run cold and boil simultaneously. He almost thought his eardrums might tear, and then he thought nothing. 

*** 

‘Oh my god.’ Foggy was looking at the warehouse with eyes like dishes. Karen only grimaced as she pressed the gas pedal a bit harder. The fire was everywhere now. ‘Are they still inside?’ Foggy asked shrill. Karen didn’t dare to answer. Instead she drove as close as she dared and let the engine running while jumping out after she barely had stopped the car. 

‘There!’ Foggy screamed as a silhouette became visible against the raging flames. ‘My god..’ Karen muttered. They ran towards the tiny figure who dragged the lifeless body of a man over her shoulder. ‘Angel!’ Foggy caught the shaking girl who collapsed under Matts weight. ‘Is he…’ Karen didn’t dare to ask. ‘He’s alive,’ Angel said raspy, trying to cough her lungs clear from the smoke. ‘Thanks for picking us up. I would’ve hated to take the bus.’ And with those words Angel passed out as well. 

Karen and Foggy were both a bit to shocked and looked at each other. ‘They need a hospital,’ Karen managed to say. They could already hear the sirens from the fire brigade. Foggy frowned and looked at his best friend. Matt looked horrible, almost worse than the time he had found him after being cut up by that ninja. ‘They wouldn’t want that,’ he answered. 

‘What?!’ Karen yelled, almost furious. ‘They need medical attention, right now!’ 

‘We’ll bring them to the monastery,’ Foggy suggested. ‘And we call Claire. And if they think it is bad enough, we’ll take them to the hospital. But come on, Karen, look at Matt. If we take them to the hospital now, bet your ass questions are going to be asked.’ 

Karen bit her lip, but found herself agreeing with Foggy. ‘Fine. The monastery it is.’ 

Hopefully Matt and Angel would wake up soon, because Karen had to know about the shitshow that was burning down in front of them right now. She had a very bad feeling about this...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... that happened. I am terribly sorry (again) for the delay in posting. I have suffered major writers-block and I wanted to make it up to you guys by writing a longer chapter. Well, at least I succeeded in the latter, but it is not the happiest chapter I have written so far xD (I just like to torture characters I guess). 
> 
> Anyway, I am back! (yay) and the following chapters will include a bit more plot, some more angst and pain, but eventually happiness (or ya know, kinda). 
> 
> I'd like to thank all of you for your support, your kuddos and comments. Now that my writers-block is over and I'm back in school, I have a bit more structure and discipline. Hopefully next chapter will be up soon. There will probably be 5 more chapters to this story, so thank you all for sticking with me :) 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> x A.


	21. Pray for the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Angel’s trail, Karen and Foggy find Matt and Angel and take them to the monastery. However, Matt now realizes that Angel is more powerful than she’s let them believe. He tells Foggy and Karen and wants to confront Angel her about her gift, and then he overhears Angel talking to Maggie

Matt grimaced at the déjà vu he was experiencing, finding himself once more bruised in the monastery. The main difference this time was that he sensed Karen and Foggy in the room with him, they were talking quietly with each other, trying not to disturb him. 

‘I wish I could understand just why he has the constant need to get out there and hurt himself,’ Foggy sighed. 

‘He wasn’t out as Daredevil this time,’ Karen argued. ‘He’s going to get hurt no matter what, we can’t always protect him,’ she said softly. ‘Yeah, and that’s even worse. Who do you think did this to him?’ Foggy asked pained, just by looking at his best friend who was lying pale and bloody on the bed. 

‘Oh, come on, we are not going to pretend and speculate. We know who did this,’ Karen spoke bitter. ‘Yeah, but how? Fisk wasn’t released until… well, technically twenty minutes ago.’ 

‘I’m sure he has his minions,’ Karen said determined. ‘And we are going to burn the fucker to the ground. He crossed a line.’ 

‘He has crossed multiple lines,’ Foggy said dryly. ‘And he did it long before yesterday. The only problem is that he deems himself untouchable.’ 

Karen let out a frustrated grunt. ‘There has to be something we can do to him. We know there is dirt on him, we just need to prove it.’ 

‘Maybe we can hire Angel as our PI.’ Foggy joked. Karen raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t think she’d be up for that. You’ve seen her, she was hysteric. I am starting to get worried about ever involving her in the first place.’ 

‘Well, without her we would’ve never found Matt this quickly,’ Foggy argued. ‘She took off solo, burned at least three warehouses to the ground and threw a total tantrum when we arrived back here. She is not the most mentally stable person we know, Fog.’ 

‘Well, frankly Matt isn’t either.’ Foggy mumbled. Matt grinned at the comment. ‘Thanks, Fogy,’ he said raspy. 

‘Matt!’ Both Karen and Foggy veered up at the sound of his voice. 

‘Hey, buddy. How’re you doing?’ Foggy took Matt’s hand in his and squeezed it for reassurance. ‘Been worse,’ Matt smiled. It was true, injury wise he had definitely suffered worse. He maybe had a pounding headache, bruised and broken ribs and a nasty burn on his side, but he would recover from all of that. What was the worst was a feeling, or maybe a memory of a feeling. An echo of the pain he had felt just before blacking out. 

‘What happened?’ he asked. 

Foggy and Karen looked at each other. ‘Well… we were hoping you could tell us. You’ve been missing for five days.’ 

‘Yeah, sorry about that,’ Matt sighed. ‘I was just on my way home from Claire’s when someone got the drop on me. Knocked me out and then I woke up in a warehouse.’ 

‘Someone got the drop on you?’ Foggy asked in disbelieve. Matt sighed. ‘Yeah, I mean, I realized too late I was being followed. And I was just.. just walking home in my day clothes. I wasn’t suspicious or anything and I, I just realized it too late.’ 

‘It’s alright, you’re save now,’ Karen said. ‘But do you know who took you? Or why?’ 

Matt pressed his lips in a thin line. ‘I have my suspicions that it was Fisk. Or at least one of his laymen, a guy named Renold. They… they were after Daredevil.’ Karen and Foggy gasped. ‘They know you are…’ 

‘No, no at least I don’t think so,’ Matt reassured them. ‘They were… they knew that I knew Daredevil and they were hoping that if they’d beat me up Daredevil would come for me.’

‘Gotta appreciate the irony there,’ Foggy mumbled. Matt grinned grimly. ‘Yeah, they wanted to use me as bait to get to Daredevil and they didn’t care if I got hurt in the process. In fact, they wanted to hurt me too. They said their employer hated both me and Daredevil.’ 

‘And their employer is Fisk.’ Karen said disgusted. Matt shrugged. ‘Thad would be my guess. They never mentioned his name directly, but I wouldn’t know who else would both hate Daredevil and Matt Murdock enough to practice torture skills on them.’ 

‘They actually tortured you?’ Karen asked shocked. ‘Yeah, Renold had two guys with enhanced strength and I think he was training them to be his butchers. I mean, it hurt but they weren’t very creative,’ Matt tried to talk it down.

‘They fucking tortured you!’ Karen raged. She looked at Foggy. ‘I told you, we have to put an end to this. Fisk has to stop. This all has to stop.’ 

‘Calm down, Karen,’ Foggy sighed. He had long since accepted Matt’s fucked up life, up and including torture, ninjas and crazy undead girlfriends. ‘We have to be smart about this. Fisk will pay, but all in time, alright? First, Matt has to get better.’ 

‘I’m actually…-‘ 

‘Do NOT dare to say that you’re fine. If you could see yourself you’d be shocked by the horror show. You are more bruises than human,’ Foggy grunted. 

‘They’re just bruises. I am fi-, I am alright. Really.’

Foggy sighed. ‘Sure you are. But can we please agree not to do anything reckless for at least the next week?’ He looked sternly at both Matt and Karen. 

‘Only a week, huh?’ Matt smiled. 

‘What can I say, I am a realist,’ Foggy shrugged. 

After verifying that their friend was in fact ‘fine’ all things considering, Karen and Foggy were send out of Matt’s room. Sister Maggie insisted he needed his rest, and they were welcome to swing by later. After some protest the two agreed, the little sister could be really determined about the wellbeing of her patient. 

‘Fine,’ Foggy sighed when she guided him and Karen to the hallway. ‘But can we at least see Angel then? She wasn’t that hurt, was she?’ 

Maggie frowned. ‘Physically, no. But the whole event was traumatic for her and she refuses to see anyone right now. Maybe tomorrow, when she has calmed down a bit…’ Foggy nodded relieved. He cared about the young girl who had been brave enough to save Matt. 

Matt overheard Foggy asking about Angel and grimaced. Something wasn’t right. For the first time, Matt felt like he owed Karen an apology. Karen had been suspicious of Angel from the beginning, and something had happened in the factory, causing him and almost everyone else to blackout. Instinctively, Matt knew Angel was responsible. He just couldn’t figure out how. 

 

*** 

 

‘You weren’t kidding, you’re actually fine.’ Foggy almost sounded impressed when he saw Matt sitting upright with his fingers on a braille book. Matt grinned at him. ‘Yeah, the miracle of a hot shower, decent food and new glasses.’ 

‘I preferred your old glasses. I don’t know, they seemed just more… you,’ Karen said as she followed Foggy into the room. Matt shrugged. ‘I’ve got a spare of those back at home, but for now these will do.’ 

‘You know you don’t have to ware them for us, right?’ Foggy said. Matt sighed. ‘Yes, but I like them. It’s more.. comfortable this way.’ Foggy nodded and let the subject rest. He knew Matt was sometimes sensitive about his blindness, even though he somehow saw more than most people due to his enhanced senses. 

‘We brought you some take-out,’ Karen changed the topic. Matt smiled deviously. ‘I know. I could smell it all the way from the street. Can I have the Pad See Ew?’ 

‘It is still creepy when you do that,’ Karen said while unpacking the plastic bags with Thai-food. ‘I think it is pretty cool,’ Foggy argued as he stole a spring roll and burnt his tongue at the first bite. ‘It comes in handy, occasionally,’ Matt agreed. He gratefully took the box Karen handed him and made himself comfortable on the bed. 

‘Have you heard anything from Angel yet?’ Karen asked casually. Matt frowned. ‘No, I haven’t spoken to her since… well, since she burned down the warehouse and came to rescue me.’ 

‘Yeah, about that, what the hell? She suddenly took off on a hunch to find you and a couple hours later we get a text to meet her at the docks and everything is on fire,’ Foggy said dramatically while grabbing for the glass of water on Matt’s nightstand to cool down his tongue. Matt shrugged. ‘I know as much as you do, perhaps even less. I was being tasered with a cattle prod and suddenly Angel was there, throwing glass and kicking Renold.’ 

‘Don’t tell me she is also a secret ninja with super powers, because then I will really start to get jealous of my friends,’ Foggy groaned. ‘I’m pretty sure she isn’t a ninja. She doesn’t have any fighting technique. I thought she was done for it once they started shooting at her and Renold caught her.’ 

‘Then how did you get out?’ Karen asked incredulously. 

‘She… I don’t know. The fire was getting really bad at that point and one of the guys yelled they had to leave before the roof collapsed and then… Angel did something. I don’t know what, because I blacked out directly after it, but… I think she can do more with her powers than she let us believe.’ 

Foggy and Karen looked at him with a loaded silence. ‘So… what do you think she can do?’ Karen finally asked. 

‘I am not sure, but I think it has something to do with manipulating feelings… when the roof was coming down she… I felt something. Imagine the worst pain you’ve ever felt and then it explodes and it is all you can feel. It was horrible and I was not sure what was happening, but looking back at it I think Angel caused me to feel that way. Me, and those other guys too.’ 

‘But she did it to save you, right?’ Foggy asked. Karen sighed. ‘I knew something was off about her. Do you want me to talk to her?’ 

‘You are seriously proposing to go and talk her down? Knowing she has a possible additional superpower that can cause you pain?’ Foggy said dryly and a little pissed off. Karen had never been Angels biggest fan and their relationship was entirely professional. Foggy had his suspicious that Karen and Angel worked together and understood each other, but still. 

‘Yes. Because Matt needs to rest and I can see that you feel betrayed by her, while I had always known she was hiding something from us. Maybe this is it.’ Karen stood up and wiped her hands from the food leftovers. 

‘Maybe it is a good idea,’ Matt agreed. ‘I could also go myself if…-‘ 

‘No, you take your time and enjoy your meal. I’ll go see Angel. I’m not that hungry anyway,’ Karen said. 

 

*** 

 

Angel’s room was similar to Matt’s. A single bed and a desk with a chair, and a closet was all the furniture you could find in the spartan room. The main difference were the pile of books on the nightstand and the papers on the desk. Angel sat on the chair, looking at some papers from her desk, and tensed as Karen walked into the room unannounced. ‘What do you want?’ she said defensively. 

‘To thank you for saving Matt,’ Karen said calmly, leaning in the door opening. Angel relaxed a little bit and sighed. ‘Yeah, you’re welcome. I heard he’s doing pretty well.’ 

‘You could talk to him yourself, you know,’ Karen nudged her. Angel grimaced. ‘I am not really in the mood to visit patients right now.’ 

‘What about visiting friends?’ Karen deadpanned. 

‘I don’t really have friends.’ Angel smiled sadly, hugging herself in an oversized sweater. ‘Bullshit,’ Karen argued. ‘You have Foggy, Matt, all the sisters here, and me.’ Angel raised an eyebrow. ‘You really consider yourself as my friend?’ 

‘I do now. You do so much for Matt. For all of us. And I know we don’t always see eye to eye, but I respect you and I appreciate what you did for saving Matt.’ 

‘I doubt he will see it the same way,’ Angel said grimly. Karen frowned, she had an idea where this conversation went. 

‘You know, Matt told me something interesting,’ Karen continued, walking towards Angel’s bed and siting down on the soft mattress. ‘About what happened in the warehouse, just before he blacked out.’   
Karen could see Angel tense up again. ‘Do you want to tell me about it?’ 

‘Not really,’ Angel deflected. Karen wanted to say something to pressure Angel into confessing, but instead Angel reached for a folder and handed it over to Karen. ‘This is what Fisk is working on. Or was, considering I destroyed most of it.’ Karen took the folder and frowned. She didn’t like the way Angel had changed the topic, but as she read through the folder she realized this might be a bit more pressing. ‘Are you for real?’ Karen asked, looking at a letter from a doctor Sangres. 

‘Very. I believe Fisk was trying to recreate the supersoldier serum. And he also succeeded. Two of those guys in the warehouse definitely had enhanced abilities.’ Angel pointed out. ‘And it is all connected to those drugs, Charlies. I have to applaud their creativity in name choosing. Stark Industries had the Manhattan project, Fisk has the Darwin project. That doctor Sangres is a strong believer in constant evolution and he believes that enhanced individuals are the next step in human evolution. To name your project and drugs after Charles Darwin seems pretty fitting.’ 

Karen didn’t share Angel’s sense of humor. ‘Where did you even get this information?’ 

‘One of the warehouses. There were some papers and I thought they could come in handy. I assume you want Fisk to pay for what he did to Matt?’ Karen nodded. ‘Well, then you might need this too. It is a letter from Sangres to Fisk. Mentioning his full name and everything. Fisk hired Sangres to create supersoldiers. I don’t know why, but that isn’t the matter right now.’ 

‘But you are going to find that out, right?’ Karen asked. Angel sighed. ‘Maybe. I don’t know. I was actually thinking about leaving the city for a while, hoping that this would sort itself out.’ Karen raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed at the small blonde. ‘I know, I know,’ Angel sighed. ‘It’s never that easy. But I was really hoping not to get sucked in too deep. I don’t want to hurt anyone like..’   
‘..like you hurt Matt,’ Karen filled in. Angel grimaced and nodded. ‘Yeah, precisely.’ 

‘How did you do that, exactly?’ Karen wondered. Angel shrugged. ‘How does Matt fight with his blindness? How do I sense feelings? I guess I just… do it. I can’t control it, so I try to avoid stressful situations where I might hurt someone.’ 

‘I get that, but how exactly? Matt said he remembered being in pain before blacking out and that you might had to do with that.’ 

‘Yeah, that was me.’ Angel sighed. ‘And I didn’t meant to hurt him, it is just… I needed to buy us time. A safe way out.’ 

‘And somehow you can… hurt people?’ 

‘I reverse my… gift. I can sense other peoples pain, but if I am not careful I can also project pain at everyone around me. I don’t know how it works, and frankly I don’t really care and I am not planning to use it. The feeling afterwards can drive me crazy.’ Angel explained. Karen nodded, remembering Angel’s hysteric episode when they’d arrived at the monastery. She understood the mysterious girl now. And when Karen looked at Angel, something else hit her. Angel was just a kid, barely twenty-one, perhaps even younger. Angel had no real family, no memories, and she was afraid of hurting people with her gift. She had build up an entire defence mechanism, trying to keep other people at bay, including Karen who had been suspicious of Angel. But she really needed some help. She needed friends. 

‘Thank you,’ Karen said sincerely. Angel looked up at her, questioningly. ‘For telling me,’ Karen added. ‘I know it must be difficult for you.’ 

‘I’m alright,’ Angel smiled dismissively, but with a hint of appreciation. ‘Are you sure?’ 

‘Yeah, I’m sure. You can bring those files to Foggy and Matt if you like. I’m sure Matt want to investigate.’ Angel changed the subject again. Karen smiled. ‘Yeah, if only Matt was more like you, then I wouldn’t have to worry as much. I am sure he want to start investigating right away.’ 

 

*** 

 

Matt did indeed want to investigate right away. And he also wanted to apologize to Angel, even though he had done nothing wrong, Karen and Foggy reassured him. After Karen’s return she had explained everything Angel had told her, about the supersoldier serum that Fisk was working on, as well as Angel’s other gift. 

‘Now I feel bad,’ Foggy had sighed, voicing Matt’s thoughts. 

‘I have to go, talk to her,’ Matt said determined. ‘You are on bedrest,’ Karen protested. ‘I am fine, I just… I feel guilty. Angel should have been able to trust us and I feel like I’ve let her down,’ Matt explained as he raised himself from the bed. 

‘Always taking the blame,’ Foggy mumbled, but he didn’t try to stop his friend. 

Matt’s bruises still hurt, but it was nothing he couldn’t manage. He slowly walked towards Angels room, but stopped when he heard voices. 

‘I’m so sorry, Maggie,’ Angel said with a sob. ‘I really tried not to hurt him.’ 

‘I know, dear. But he’s doing alright now,’ the sister replied, soothing the young girl. ‘Maybe he would be doing even better if you just told him the truth,’ Angel sighed. ‘I can tell he is lonely. He has Karen and Foggy, but he misses you.’ 

‘I miss him too, but he has never met me before he came to the monastery. I was a worthless mother, you don’t want to tear open that wound Angel. He has lost so much already…’ Matt’s breath hitched and he felt as if someone emptied a cold bucket of water over his head. 

‘I don’t want him to suffer anymore.' Maggie said softly. 'He can never know I’m his mother.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit later than expected, but at least I managed to finish this chapter just a week after the previous one (Hey, I'm making progress!). So, yeah this chapter is a bit more meant as a build up for who Angel truly is, and for Matt discovering that his mom is still alive, and a confrontation is about to happen. (and some other stuff, but this writer is still figuring that out and I don't want to spoil too much) :P
> 
> We are nearing the end of this series which both make me excited and sad. Only four chapters left and there is still so much that needs to happen... If you have any questions/suggestions or things I should include before wrapping this up, please let me know. 
> 
> As always, major thanks to everyone. It still amazes me that so many of you are reading this little ficlet and leaving kuddos and comments. You guys are the best (and you keep me busy and motivate me to write, so thank youuuu). 
> 
> Okay that was it. See you next chapter!
> 
> \- A


	22. NOT A CHAPTER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so... Hello again? It's been a while, don't you think?

First of all; sorry for not posting in over... 6 months(?!).  
I've had a really busy time, a lot going on with my family (parents divorcing), got the opportunity to study abroad (I've been living in Bali, Indonesia for 3 months now and in a few weeks I will move to Bangkok, Thailand for my studies). On top of that I lost my login codes for AO3 and was simply too busy to do anything about that, and after a few weeks and then a few months I just wasn't into writing, really.

BUT I AM BACK BITCHES!

And the promise I made in the beginning is still valid. I will not abandon this fic. I will not abandon you, my dear readers, and I intend to finish this project before I move to Thailand. 

It might take me some time to reread and edit the final chapters, but IT WILL BE DONE. (Mainly because I have a few oneshots in mind and I don't allow myself to start on a new project before finishing the existing one). 

So yeah, apologies for my absence. I hope you will stick around for the finale and after. 

Love you all! 

X A.


End file.
